A corking great vine tour: Hiking from one Sussex vineyard to the next can be thirsty work – but the rewards keep coming

From the crest of the hill, vines cascade down the slopes to the waters of the Cuckmere River, as it meanders between chalky cliffs to the sea. The vines to our right are covered in netting, protection against hungry crows, but the ones to our left are exposed.

‘These are Chardonnay grapes,’ explains our guide. ‘The birds don’t touch them. Nor do the badgers. They only like Pinot Precoce.’

That the birds and the beasts are connoisseurs of fine wine is an insight, one of many about this emerging UK wine region gleaned on a tour of Rathfinny Wine Estate in East Sussex.

We are five days along a new wine-and-walking tour, hiking 51 miles in the lee of the South Downs, through rolling countryside and an area rich in history and culture.

The route begins in Arundel, with its imposing Norman Castle. The Romans are often cited as bringing vines to Britain but the bon viveur French also established viticulture after the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book recorded 40 vineyards in the South-East; today there are more than 100 in Sussex alone.

The first on our route is Wiston, five miles north of Worthing. The land here has belonged to the Goring family since the mid-18th century but it was in the early years of the 2000s that the latest generation planted Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay vines and began producing premium sparkling Sussex wines.

In the flint barn tasting rooms we sip a rosé, brut and award-winning Blanc de Blancs, with hints of apple, strawberries, cherries and even damson — flavours redolent of the area, 30 or 40 years ago when orchards blossomed and soft fruit ripened in areas now covered with vines.

At the time, it wasn’t warm enough for grapes but global warming means the South of England now has a similar climate to that of the Champagne region in the 1970s and this has led to a boom in wine production.

Sussex even has a Protected Designation of Origin status for its sparkling wine, leading to a certain amount of sour grapes with neighbouring Kent.

Because many of the vineyards and wineries are concentrated in a relatively small area, it’s spawned a new type of wine touring — on foot.

Quite a few estates have their own wine walks, sometimes leading to other nearby vineyards, but Macs Adventure is the first company to create a longer trail right across the heart of Sussex wine country.

From the tree circled Iron Age hillfort, Chanctonbury Ring, on the ridge above Wiston, we follow the route taken by Charles II as he fled parliamentary troops en route to France, and arrive for a night in the sleepy village of Bramber.

The following day we climb steadily to the edge of the mythical glacial chasm, Devil’s Dyke, with a view that landscape painter John Constable described as ‘the grandest in the world’.

From here, we follow the South Downs Way before heading past the black and white Jack and Jill windmills to the chocolate-box village of Ditchling.

With its creaking Tudor timber-framed buildings, 12th-century church and Arts and Crafts museum, Ditchling was once best known as the birthplace of sculptor Eric Gill. But, since his fall from grace, its four vineyards, all within a pip’s throw of each other, are one of the major draws.

We head for the Ridgeview estate and sample a sparkling Blanc de Blancs served at state banquets to the likes of Barack Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping.

Pleasantly drowsy after generously filled glasses, we head to our hotel, where our luggage, transported daily, awaits us.

Accommodation is a mix of hotels and guesthouses all conveniently close to the route. Our final day’s walk from the elegant 19th-century colonial-style Wingrove House in Alfriston takes us along the spectacular Seven Sisters chalk cliffs.

This chalk, the bedrock of the area, is one of the keys to the success of Sussex wine. It holds water, allowing vines to flourish without much irrigation.

So it’s appropriate that the bottle of Rathfinny we smuggle into our room at Eastbourne’s Grand Hotel on our final night features the Seven Sisters on the label. My partner think’s I’m suggestible but I say I’ve developed the nose of a badger, and, as we look out to sea and toast the end of the trip, I can definitely taste the landscape we’ve been walking through.

It’s all there in the glass of bubbly with its lick of salinity and hints of honeysuckle, apples and pears — another taste of Sussex wine country and one that requires very little effort to enjoy.