Lurgashall Winery

Meadery in Lurgashall, West Sussex, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Established in 1985

Contact
Dial Green Lurgashall, Lurgashall, GU28 9HA, England
Description
Housed in a complex of 17th and 19th century rustic farm buildings on a 38-acre estate, the Lurgashall Winery is a family-run business specialising in fruit wines and meads. However, inside, it's anything but rustic, being self-contained with fermentation, maturation and bottling vats, and modern, high quality equipment in a sterile bottling room and fully equipped laboratory – all elements of the process that will be learned about when taking a tour around the facility.

Lurgashall has come a long way since it began production in 1985 and produced a thousand bottles. Annual production is up to half-a-million bottles and the visitor experience is thriving.

With 10 meads, nine fruit liqueurs and nine fruit wines, including the delicate Rose Petal Wine and more decisive Silver Birch Wine, there's no monoculture here. Visitors will find out about the way that time-honoured recipes are followed as closely as possible, in the continued quest for authentic flavours.

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6.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Christmas mead served with spices. Golden yellow in color. Standard honey aroma with some spices (which were added from the packet). The spices help lessen the overbearing honey flavor which some meads have.
Tried on 19 Dec 2005 at 02:34

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle at Sunset Grille, 9/10/2005. Unsure what to expect from this one, as I had heard that Lurgashall was a bit commercial. But right from the aroma, I could see it was going to be good. Very smooth, lightly sweet, flowery and lightly vanilla-like nose, just very clean and with only the most delicate kiss of warming, scotch. Looks rather pale and is not as viscous as some of the Polish meads, though this one is still high in abv. Flavor is light and fairly delicate on the palate. How they achieved this I have no idea. Very difficult to believe that this is 20%. Only a light tinge of peat or barley can be felt on the end, just a slight warming sensation. The rest is just a smooth, delicate, pasteurized honey and light wildflowers.
Tried from Bottle on 12 Sep 2005 at 09:59

5.4/10 Appearance 2 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 4 Overall 6.5
This, being my 2nd ever rating of mead, is still a learning process. I’m not quite sure mead is my thing, but I know I haven’t had the great ones yet either. Straw colored in a wine glass. Still. Aroma initially shocking, a solventy alcoholic blast - but after habituating to that I could sense the rounded honey presence. Much like a sweet wine, it was a sipper (I started out chilled per label suggestions but it got nearly to room temp before I finished a 4-5oz serving). The flavor was marked by a significant pure honey flavor, plus alcohol. I enjoyed it enough to pour a second serving, but then vacuum sealed the remainder. Perhaps aging will help the alcoholic side...am anxious to try the aged meads like Apis Jadwiga.
Tried from Can on 21 Aug 2005 at 14:22

6.6/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
[At The Evening Star, Brighton] A light yellow mead with no head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of honey and lesser notes of flowers - and so is the flavor.
Tried on 09 Mar 2005 at 17:13

6.4/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
My first mead, so I have nothing to compare this to. Appearance: light yellow with no head. Smslls of sweet honey, some floral aroma... all very light (not strong). Flavor is strong alcohol with some honey notes. Light finish. I enjoy it, but not for the price.
Tried on 19 Feb 2005 at 02:33

4.2/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 4 Flavor 5 Texture 4 Overall 4
Clear golden coloured body with a thinnish look when agitated. Aroma at first of dirty feet, honey and foul grass. After that dies down, you notice the honey more than anything else. Light-bodied; Funky alcoholic taste with some yeast noticeable, but mostly honey. Aftertaste shows some strong alcohol and nothing pleasant. Overall, not impressed with this mead...it is the second i’ve ever had, but second to the Apis! I sampled this 50 cL bottle purchased by my brother-in-law in Hilton Head, South Carolina on 12-December-2004.
Tried from Bottle on 17 Dec 2004 at 23:24