Excellent bottles under €25 in Sussex: the value finds locals actually drink.
A guide to budget wines in Sussex.
Sussex Bacchus at under £20. The estate calls it pale and crisp with a light mouthfeel, running from tomato leaf, basil and nettle through lime zest and grapefruit to tropical fruit.
Tip: Buy it at the tasting room eight miles from Brighton and you can taste the Chardonnay and Pinot alongside before deciding.
A youthful still Chardonnay at 11 per cent, 95 per cent Chardonnay with only a light oak touch, green apple and lemon zest on the nose and a distinct mineral edge.
Tip: Cool climate Chardonnay at this price is rare in England. Serve it colder than you think, around 8 degrees, with Selsey crab.
Bacchus off the Weald sandstone at East Grinstead, sold by the bottle from the Tithe Barn shop that opens 10am to 5pm seven days a week, so it needs no appointment.
Tip: Older vintages sit on the same shelf cheaper: the 2017 Bacchus was still listed at £19 when the 2025 came in at £24.
One of the few Sussex bottles of Solaris, the disease resistant hybrid that ripens early enough to make still white reliably in an English summer, sold from the estate shop.
Tip: Worth tasting next to the Bacchus to see what the Weald soils do with two very different aromatic whites.
Still Chardonnay from the East Grinstead vines, listed at £19 a bottle, the lowest price on the estate's current list and a Weald counterpoint to the chalk Chardonnays.
Tip: Buy it with a cafe table at the Tithe Barn and drink it there: corkage is not charged on the estate's own wine.
Organic Solaris from the High Weald estate Roy Cook founded in 1979, at £21 the cheapest certified organic bottle on the Sedlescombe list.
Tip: Sedlescombe's tour and tasting vouchers cover five wines, which is the cheapest way to work out which of them you actually want.
A rare English organic red at 9.5 per cent, made from Regent and Rondo. The estate notes pepper and smoked bramble on the nose, with dark fruit and soft tannins on the palate.
Tip: At 9.5 per cent it wants a light chill and a charcuterie board rather than a roast. Twenty minutes in the fridge door is enough.
Still rose from the Soil Association certified estate near Rye, 64 per cent Pinot Noir and 36 per cent Pinot Meunier at 11.5 per cent, pale pink with strawberry, cranberry and a citrus backbone.
Tip: The cheapest bottle on an otherwise sparkling-priced list, and the one to drink on the farm's own terrace with a wine flight.
Still Chardonnay from the vines at Streat below the northern edge of the Downs, £25 from the estate shop and pourable by the glass on the terrace Thursday to Sunday.
Tip: Taste it against the Pinot Gris and the Rose, all three at the same £25, before you commit to a case.
Sussex Pinot Gris at £25, from the Streat estate that hangs contemporary art in its tasting room. The same grape Stopham built its reputation on, at a lower price.
Tip: Artelium's Artefact bottlings sit £5 to £11 dearer on the same shelf. Start here before you spend up.
Still Pinot Gris from the Weald sandstone at Bolney, where the Pratts planted vines in 1972. At £25 it undercuts the estate's sparkling by a couple of pounds.
Tip: Bolney opens seven days a week all year, so this is the easy midwinter buy when the seasonal cellar doors are shut.
Peak wine-travel season in Sussex is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Sussex rewards trust.