Vineyard and Cotswold Hills Wine

The Royal Agricultural University vineyard is located in Down Ampney, close to Cirencester. It was planted in 2010 in a six acre, south-facing field.

The 40 rows of vines are planted mainly with Ortega grapes with two rows each of Bacchus, Chardonnay and Seyval. The grapes are handpicked at harvest before being made into our award winning Cotswold Hills wines in Gloucestershire. 

Our range of wines includes our Silver Award winning (WineGB West Awards 2024) still Ortega 2023, a still white blend, still rose, white Sparkling 2020 and our fizzy white cans.  Our Cotswold Hills student team helps at the vineyard, as well as working on new projects such as the introduction of more sustainable packaging or new product lines. 

Students involved in the Cotswold Hills project have the opportunity to develop their employability skills and experience, as well as making connections in the industry.  In addition sales of Cotswold Hills contribute to our RAU Ignite Enterprise Fund which supports entrepreneurial RAU students to start their own businesses, as well as access coaching and business support for their start-up. For further information about Cotswold Hills, please visit our website (www.cotswoldhills.org.uk).

Cotswold Hills wine is stocked in over 125 outlets including a number of Mid-Counties Co-Op stores. You can also buy it online.