After our visit to Leonardslee, we were invited by the Streeter family to spend the night at their other property, Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate near Horsham in West Sussex, a few miles away. The vineyard was established about four years ago
The main building contains the members’ bar, the restaurant, the pro shop and some accommodation
They hold many events and corporate days
This is the bar
And, of course, you can also buy Benguela Cove wines there and, of course, you can enjoy a Guided tasting of the wines
for £10 or a wine and cheese pairing or a chocolate and wine pairing
And even learn how to do sabrage - open a bottle of bubbly with a sword
The restaurant was being set for a large formal dinner that night
The estate has lots of deer, which come out at sunset and cross the greens
when there are no golfers threatening them with flying golf balls. They have both Roe and Fallow deer
It is a beautiful setting, rather Capability Brown in design
Looking down the Fairway at the famed championship 18-hole Waterfall Golf Course
They had arranged dinner for us in a private dining room
and we had steak with a good pepper sauce, nicely crisp chips and some fresh spinach
Our cottage for the night, "Fullers Cottage"
It is an old building, still with many of the original features like this beamed ceiling
A comfortable sitting room
and a large kitchen
Next morning, after a good breakfast in the restaurant, Barry Anderson (another South African), GM of Mannings Heath
and also their viticulturist, took us on a tour of the grounds and we headed towards their newly planted vines
and the more mature vineyards
These strange things are actually fans which are turned on to blow whenever there is a danger of frost
which would harm the vines. It prevents frost formation
They are building a new shed and we went to see that. It will be used as a function venue but, eventually,
will become part of the winery. Barry rode in front and John followed, driving us in the second golf cart
Quite exciting, the road is quite winding and narrow and a bit bumpy
We chatted to the builder
The steel structure was just going up
We also managed a trip through the woods...
.. to another vineyard, where the vines are more established. They should get their first crop very soon, when the vines
are more than 4 years old. They are growing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to make a Champagne style wine
Here they limit the new growth to encourage more root, stem and branch development in the early years
All the information about this vineyard
We stopped alongside this large dam
which will soon be drained and turned into the underground wine cellar
There are plans to plant more vineyards. Mannings Heath also has a public 18 hole course
Half of this will be used for this new planting
We look forward to the wines that these vineyards will produce;
we suspect that, with Johann at the helm, they will be very good 
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