The 40-cover space will be led by former Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and The Samling chef Nick Edgar and James Osborn, who has held senior management roles at other English wineries including Squerryes Wine Estate in Kent.
Now owned by Berry Bros. & Rudd and Symington Family Estate, Hambledon Wine Estate is England’s oldest commercial vineyard having been growing vines since 1952.
Open from lunch through to the evening, the new restaurant will ‘champion seasonal produce and the best ingredients from the kitchen garden and local surrounding’.
Dishes will include chalk stream trout served with beetroot dill and horseradish; grilled fillet of mackerel with a soy and honey glaze, roasted loin of Hampshire venison, celeriac, pear and juniper; and pistachio soufflé with clementine sorbet and dark chocolate sauce.
As well as wines produced on the South Downs-based estate, the restaurant will offer a selection of Symington’s and Berry Bros & Rudd’s own wines as well as a short classic cocktail list.
Edgar has a top-flight cooking CV that includes a six years at the two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons near Oxford as head chef under its chef founder Raymond Blanc and then chef de cuisine Gary Jones
Following this, Edgar was appointed head chef at Lake District restaurant The Samling and attracted a Michelin star within less than a year.
Edgar has been working for the Hambledon Wine Estate for the past three years or so and has been doing pop-ups on the estate in preparation for the restaurant.
Osborn will run the estate as managing director alongside head of hospitality Katherine Fromm, whose CV includes the nearby The Pig and Lime Wood Hotel.
Located within a barn set amongst the vines, the restaurant boasts high ceilings, and exposed oak wooden beams and walls and large windows which provide natural light and views of the vineyard.
Other design details include oak furnishings, neutral leather banquettes and a clay-tiled circular bar.
“As we continue to grow and share our passion for exceptional English sparkling wines, opening a new restaurant at Hambledon Wine Estate is an exciting opportunity to offer our guests a complete dining experience, where they can enjoy the best of local produce paired with our wines in a beautiful, relaxed setting,” Osborn says.
Edgar added: “I feel very lucky to join Hambledon Wine Estate, I instantly fell in love with the vineyard; the sparkling wines they make, their commitment to the highest standards & to their uncompromising approach, and most importantly their dreams for the restaurant. I am so excited to bring their vision to reality and hopefully bring a restaurant that the people of Hambledon and surrounding areas will be proud of.”