A Weekend visiting the Vineyards of the Rother Wine Triangle, a Sussex Winelands trail

Six vineyards, a few miles of East Sussex countryside between them, and three mainline train stations on the doorstep. The Rother Wine Triangle - the cluster of vineyards around Rye that takes in Mountfield, Oastbrook, Oxney, Charles Palmer, Sedlescombe and Tillingham - has quietly become one of the most compelling wine day-out destinations in England. Do it over a weekend and it becomes something else again.

We left Surrey on Saturday morning and picked up friends at Robertsbridge, one of three stations that give the Triangle its name. Hastings and Rye are the others, and between them they make the whole area genuinely accessible without a car - though as I'll explain at the end, having a designated driver is a significant advantage. The forecast had threatened two overcast days. It did not deliver on that threat, and by midday on Saturday we were squinting into sunshine with a glass of sparkling rosé in hand, wondering why we hadn't done this sooner.

Day One

Mountfield Winery - A Proper Introduction to the Valley

Mountfield is a husband-and-wife operation run by Lucinda and Simon from their estate near Robertsbridge, and it sets the tone for everything that follows in the Triangle. The visit began with a walk through the estate - technically a bluebell walk, though it was the rhododendrons that stopped us in our tracks, banks of vivid colour against the green of the Sussex countryside. As an opening act to a wine weekend, a walk through flowering woodland is hard to beat.

Mountfield makes only sparkling wine, which gives the range a pleasing focus. A tasting flight of three wines costs £15 per person. The Classic Cuvée, a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay from the 2017 vintage with reserve wines blended in, led with lemon and green apple before settling into something pastry-edged and satisfying. The Blanc de Blancs is exactly what you want from the format - clean, precise and very refreshing. The Rosé, Simon confessed, he considered the least interesting of the three; the tangy rhubarb and cherry flavours were everything we needed on a warm Saturday afternoon. If this was the quality across the Triangle we were in for a treat.

Mountfield Winery, Mountfield Court, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5JP. Cellar door open Fridays and Saturdays 11am to 3pm, June to September. Private and group tastings available by arrangement. Confirm before visiting at mountfieldwinery.com.

Oastbrook Estate - Book Ahead (No, Really)

Oastbrook is the one Rother Triangle vineyard that does not allow dogs on site. If you are travelling with one, Bodiam Castle is practically around the corner and makes an easy diversion for whoever draws the short straw. I was lucky enough to have a partner willing to take that shift; if your group isn't so flexible, factor this in before you plan the day.

We arrived unannounced, which in hindsight was a mistake. A large tour group had booked in and the balcony tables overlooking the vineyard - one of the better spots in the Triangle for a glass in the sun - were filling up fast with people who had planned ahead. Book before you go.

The energy at Oastbrook comes largely from winemaker and co-owner America Brewer, originally from Brazil, who brings a warmth and enthusiasm to the whole operation that several reviewers have described as feeling like catching up with a friend you haven't seen in years. Husband Nick is equally good company and between them they have built something characterful. The Round Door Vineyard Cottage - the accommodation on site - gives you some sense of the aesthetic.

The tasting covers four wines: two sparkling and two still. Of the four, the sparkling rosé had a depth and complexity that put it among the best we tasted across the whole weekend. The still rosé was the surprise: earthy and funky in a way that tipped into blue cheese territory, which sounds improbable but is entirely plausible in a low-sulphur wine where lactic bacteria leave their mark. Unusual, and polarising - but memorable.

Oastbrook Estate, Junction Road, Bodiam, Robertsbridge, TN32 5XA. Tastings (4 wines) available weekends April to October and Thursday to Friday in July and August. Full Owner's Tour with vineyard walk and cheese platter is £40pp, group discount of £5pp for five or more. No dogs. Booking essential. oastbrook.com.

Oxney Organic Estate - Thirty-Five Acres of Purpose

Oxney bills itself as England's largest single-estate producer of organic wine, and at 35 acres of Soil Association-certified vineyard it earns the title. The estate is part of an 800-acre organic farm near Beckley, six miles from Rye, and the sense of space - actual agricultural scale, rather than boutique - is immediately noticeable when you arrive.

The vineyard is planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Seyval Blanc. Seyval Blanc is a French hybrid variety with naturally good disease resistance, which helps explain how Oxney makes organic viticulture work in England's damp climate - fewer synthetic interventions are needed when some of your varieties are better equipped to handle the conditions. The guide explained the logic of this when we visited, and it sticks with you as you walk the rows.

We shared a charcuterie board between four at the end of our visit: local cheeses, cured meats, oatcakes, quince jelly and pickled pear. It is a very good charcuterie board. Drop-in wineflights are available Tuesday to Saturday; check oxneyestate.com for current prices and availability.

Oxney Organic Estate, Hobbs Lane, Beckley, Rye, East Sussex TN31 6TU. Open for drop-in wineflights Tuesday to Saturday. Guided tours run Saturdays, March to October. Accommodation available on site and at Oxney Barns. Dogs welcome. oxneyestate.com.

Where We Slept - Wickham Manor at Charles Palmer

Five of the six vineyards in the Rother Triangle offer accommodation of some kind. Mountfield has a cabin on the estate, Oastbrook has the Round Door cottage, glamping pods and the Avalon Waterside Lodge, Oxney has a Jacobean farmhouse and shepherd's huts, Charles Palmer offers two private wings of Wickham Manor and Tillingham has rooms above the restaurant and bar. Most are dog friendly; Oastbrook is not.

We stayed in the William Penn Suite at Wickham Manor, part of the 16th-century manor house that sits at the heart of the Charles Palmer estate. William Penn - who went on to found Pennsylvania - once lived here, and his name has stuck to the suite ever since. The building is as characterful as that history suggests: low ceilings, uneven floors, rooms that have clearly been many things over the centuries. The layout is unusual enough that you want to be comfortable with whoever you are sharing it with. We were, so it was fine. Better than fine.

Day Two

Before the Tastings - Winchelsea Beach

The Wine and Cheese tasting at Charles Palmer was booked for noon on Sunday, which left the morning free. We walked across fields to Winchelsea Beach, the fields full of lambs at this time of year, and had breakfast at the café on the seafront. It is a very straightforward beach café and it was exactly what we needed. The walk back across the fields is also excellent.

Charles Palmer Vineyards - The Best Views in the Triangle

Charles Palmer is a family-run, 40-acre vineyard on National Trust land above the ancient Cinque Port of Winchelsea, one mile from the sea. Some of the lowest vines sit just one metre above sea level, which the family credits with the distinctive minerality in the wines. On a clear day the Brede Valley view from the picnic tables at the cellar door is the kind of view that makes you want to order another glass and miss your train home.

The Wine and Cheese Experience - £33 per person - pairs four wines with four local cheeses and comes with a guided tour of the winery, which the family recently expanded. I have been on enough vineyard tours now that I consider myself a demanding audience, but our guide was genuinely engaging, full of specific detail and - yes - a digression into tax law that is more interesting than it sounds. Ask about it when you go.

The cellar door sells glasses and bottles to take out to the picnic tables, which means you can also visit without booking a full tasting experience. The Still Pinot Noir 2022 on the tasting was elegant and food-friendly, and I also tried the 2023 vintage separately - it had the edge in freshness. The Demi Sec was the crowd-pleaser of the afternoon: rich enough to feel indulgent, balanced enough to avoid being cloying. The cheese platter was as good as the wines.

Charles Palmer Vineyards, Wickham Manor, Winchelsea, East Sussex TN36 4AG. Wine and Cheese Experience £33pp (4 wines, 4 cheeses, tour). Three-wine tasting from £23pp. Open Wednesday to Saturday, with Sunday tastings at 12pm and 2pm. Pre-booking required. Dogs welcome at the cellar door. charlespalmer-vineyards.co.uk.

Sedlescombe Organic - England's Oldest Organic Vineyard

Sedlescombe was founded in 1979, which makes it England's oldest organic wine estate. Roy Cook planted it from a dream of self-sufficiency and the ethos has never left: the vineyard is now biodynamic as well as organic, certified by the Biodynamic Association UK, and produces wines suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

Where Oxney sticks largely to the classic Champagne varieties, Sedlescombe leans into disease-resistant PiWi grapes - Solaris, Johanniter, Regent and Rondo among others - specifically bred to thrive in cool, damp northern European climates without the fungicide treatments that conventional viticulture relies on. The result is a range that goes well beyond sparkling wine: whites, reds, rosés and sparkling, from varieties you are unlikely to have tried before. It is worth paying attention during the tasting rather than defaulting to the familiar.

A guided tour with five wine samples costs £25 per person and is worth booking ahead. The front courtyard is lovely, but it is the area behind the building - quieter, more secluded, cut off from the road - where you want to sit with your glass afterwards.

Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard, Hawkhurst Road, Cripps Corner, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5SA. Open Thursday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Guided tour and tasting £25pp (five wines). sedlescombeorganic.com.

Tillingham - End on a High

Tillingham was our final stop and the only vineyard in the Triangle with a full restaurant. Dogs are welcome in the bar and pizza barn but not upstairs in the dining room, so my partner was once again on dog duty while we ate. I've reviewed the restaurant in full elsewhere - read that here - and the short version is that it gets a hard recommend despite its imperfections. If you are not eating, three-glass tasting flights at the bar are £15, the Chenin Blanc raised in qvevri is unlike anything else in the Triangle, and wood-fired pizza is available from 11am daily.

Tillingham, Dew Farm, Dew Lane, Peasmarsh, East Sussex TN31 6XD. Bar open daily from 11am, restaurant Wednesday to Sunday. Tasting flights £15. Dog-friendly rooms available. tillingham.com.

Planning Your Trip to the Rother Wine Triangle

The three closest mainline stations are Robertsbridge, Rye and Hastings - all served from London and from each other, making this a realistic train trip from the capital. In practice, having a car - or more usefully, a designated driver - transforms the weekend. The vineyards are spread across a wide enough area that walking between them is not realistic, and rural taxi coverage is thin enough to make pre-booking essential if you are relying on it.

The cleanest solution if you want to drink freely without logistics is the Rother Wine Triangle bus tour, which runs May to October, costs £130 per person and takes in three vineyards with lunch included. Pick-up is from Rye or Robertsbridge station. It does not cover all six vineyards in a single day, but it covers them well.

If you are doing the Triangle under your own steam, it is worth spreading it across two days as we did - partly because six vineyards in a day is ambitious even by the standards of a dog-friendly East Sussex vineyard crawl, and partly because the area around Winchelsea and Rye rewards a slower pace. The morning walk to Winchelsea Beach added nothing to the wine itinerary and everything to the weekend.

Accommodation is available at most of the vineyards themselves - see individual listings above. Prices and availability vary significantly, and dog-friendly options are plentiful across the Triangle with the exception of Oastbrook. Book well ahead for weekends in spring and summer.