Emma Award-winning wine and cider in the West Country
We’ve visited a few UK vineyards before, and Wild West is our second in the West Country and is actually quite similar to Polgoon in Cornwall, that we’ve written about, as they also both produce wine and cider.
Wild West is located in Somerset, just outside Bristol, and as their name alludes to, they make wine with minimal intervention and their ciders are unfiltered and unpasteurised. They are also organic so you won’t find any nasty pesticides in use here.
Tours take place on Wednesdays and Sundays at 2pm and cost £20 per person. You can visit by bus – the X6 badgerline between Bristol and Cleveden stops at Failand Cross Roads and then its a 15-minute walk, or the easiest option if you don’t have a car is to take a taxi (£15-£20 from the centre of Bristol).
To begin our tour we were provided with a glass each, and given a taste of their 2023 Pet Nat (a naturally sparkling wine) that was topped up while we walked around the vineyard and learned about how Wild West came to be.
We visited at a time when the berries were still young so had a long way to go before being harvested but tasted the finished product (one of many) as we walked past the vines.
After getting the lowdown on the wine side of the business, our tour then took us to the apple orchards.
A variety of apples are grown here, including: Browns, Dabinett, Foxwhelp, Harry Master’s Jersey and Michelin.
From there we had a quick look at where the magic happens (as tours are on a Sunday no one is working here), before settling down for a cheese and cider pairing.
We sampled two local cheeses alongside two of their ciders, with bread and crackers included too.
The ciders we enjoyed were Alive & Kicking, a dry, hazy, unfiltered apple cider (8%) and Still Hazy, another cloudy, unfiltered apple cider but at a more modest 5% ABV. Both were refreshing and tangy without the cloying sweetness you can get from big brand ciders.
Recap
Tour starts promptly at 2pm every Sunday.
Where
Failand Farm, Green Lane, Failand, North Somerset, BS8 3TR
What3words: https://w3w.co/yard.lock.client
At the gates to Failand Farm turn right and you’ll find an area to park just before the winery/cider house.
Please wear appropriate footwear for walking along a rough track (trainers etc are fine) and bring sunscreen, insect repellent and ideally a sunhat in the current conditions!
Instagram: @wildwestcider @visitbristol
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Where
Failand Farm, Green Lane, Failand, North Somerset, BS8 3TR
