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The Wine-Wanderluster

Explore wine tourism wanderlusting

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After Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818

The Wine Wanderluster

Hosted wine experiences in London's urban wineries and on the chalk hills of Sussex and Kent. Your guide studied wine at Plumpton College and has lived in more than ten countries, so every visit feels personal and every question gets a proper answer.

Choose your experience Meet your host

Sussex at first light. The chalk beneath these vines runs under the Channel to Champagne.

Choose where you wander

Three ways into English wine, each one small, hosted in person and built around the people who make the bottles.

Guests tasting English wine beside steel tanks in a London railway-arch winery London Urban winery Meet the winemakers turning English grapes into city bottles, and taste the results straight from the tank. Discover A record spinning on a turntable beside glasses of red and sparkling wine London Wine and vinyl Records on the turntable, wine in the glass and a host who knows the story behind both. Discover A small group walking through a Kent vineyard with oast houses behind Sussex and Kent Vineyard tours Walk the rows, stand on the chalk and taste traditional-method sparkling wine where it is made. Discover

Planning something private? Jannik builds tailor-made days for couples, families, friends and teams.

Ask about a private journey
A nineteenth-century photograph of Hans Christian Andersen reading a newspaper at a small table with a carafe beside him
Hans Christian Andersen at his table, carafe close at hand.

What does it mean to be a Wanderluster?

“To travel is to live.”

Hans Christian Andersen, Danish storyteller and restless traveller

The idea begins with a Danish storyteller. HC Andersen crossed Germany, France, Italy and England, and filled his letters and travel books with what he found there: the light, the languages, the landscapes, the people he met and, of course, the wine.

For him a journey opened the senses. A new road on the map led to a new road in the mind, and he came home seeing the world wider and richer. The Wine Wanderluster brings that same curiosity to the vineyards and cellars of England.

The essence of a Wine Wanderluster

A sip can hold sunlight, chalk, rain, patience and memory.

  1. Low sun through vine leaves and golden grapes
    SunlightSussex sits on the 51st parallel. Long summer days ripen the grapes while cool sea breezes keep the acidity bright.
  2. A hand holding white chalk between old vine trunks
    ChalkThe chalk under Champagne runs beneath the Channel and rises again as the North and South Downs. On a tour, you stand on it.
  3. Rain falling on dark pinot noir grapes
    RainEnglish weather writes every vintage. Harvest often runs into October, and growers read the sky all year.
  4. Sparkling wine bottles resting in riddling racks in a chalk cellar
    PatienceSussex sparkling wine rests at least 15 months in bottle before anyone may open it. You taste the waiting.
  5. Friends toasting with sparkling wine at a long table among the vines
    MemoryYou will remember who poured the wine, who you shared it with and the view from the top of the rows.
An old etching of a man writing at a tall desk, dedicated to Carl Jørgen Hansen
Jannik writing tasting notes beside a glass of white wine

Creator and founder of The Wine Wanderluster

Jannik Ritzau-Lange

Jannik grew up in Denmark and has lived in more than ten countries since. His work and travels have taken him from hazelnut farms in Georgia to tuna fishing in Cape Town, from recruiting IT talent in Kyiv to outsourcing in Tokyo, with years spent in Harare, Hanoi and New York.

All those markets, coastlines, shared tables and unexpected conversations taught him to read a room and to notice what makes a place worth the journey. He brings that to every guest.

Wine runs in the family: his great-grandfather's roots were in wine. Jannik turned that heritage into study at Plumpton College, holds several WSET qualifications and is now working towards the WSET Diploma in London.

  • Plumpton College
  • WSET qualified
  • WSET Diploma candidate
  • 10+ countries called home

Where Jannik has lived and worked

Copenhagen, Harare, Cape Town, Hanoi, Tbilisi, Kyiv, Tokyo, Moscow, London, New York and London again.

The Wine Wanderluster experience

Jannik designs each day around one question: what will you remember when you get home? Ask anyone back from a wine trip and they talk about the cool air of the cellar, the sound of glasses meeting, the view from the top of the rows and a host who knew the story behind every bottle.

A host leading a small group through a Kent vineyard A winemaker drawing wine from a barrel for a guest A chalk cellar full of sparkling wine A travel journal and a glass of sparkling wine on a train table A tasting table set by a window over London rooftops

Small groups

  • Small groups

    You will never be one of fifty. Groups stay small, so you can talk to the winemaker and ask every question you came with.

  • A host who knows wine

    Jannik explains terroir, grape varieties and traditional-method sparkling wine in plain words, whether this is your first tasting or your fiftieth.

  • Boutique estates and real cellars

    Visits take in independent and family-run producers as well as the names you know, with time underground where the bottles rest.

  • Days shaped around you

    Tell Jannik who is coming and what you love. He plans the day from the first train to the last glass.

  • A welcome for visitors from abroad

    Jannik has arrived in new countries many times himself. He knows what a visitor needs to feel at home, and he makes English wine easy to understand.

For wineries in Sussex, Kent and London

Wine tourism in England is growing fast, and many visitors arrive from abroad with no idea where to begin. Jannik brings you curious, well-prepared guests, many of them from overseas, and a qualified host who presents your wines with care and tells your story the way you would.

  • Small, attentive groups that respect your cellar door and your team's time
  • Guests booking through international experience platforms as well as direct
  • A WSET-trained host with a Plumpton College background
Talk to Jannik about partnering

1.5m

visits to UK vineyards and wineries in 2023, up 55% on the year before (WineGB)

Questions before you wander

Anything else on your mind? Send Jannik a message and he will answer it himself.

Morning sun through vine leaves in a Sussex vineyard

No. Jannik pitches every experience to the people in the room, so a first-time taster and a seasoned collector both go home knowing more than when they arrived.

Small, so you can talk to the host and the winemaker rather than listen from the back. Group sizes for each experience will appear on its own page, and private bookings are for your party alone.

Yes. Tell Jannik the date, how many of you there are and what you enjoy drinking, and he will come back with a plan and a price.

Both counties are a short train ride from London. Tonbridge is around 40 minutes from the city and Ashford International around 40 minutes on the high-speed line. Each tour page will explain where you meet and how you travel on the day.

Send an enquiry through this website and Jannik will reply himself. The experiences will also be bookable on international experience platforms as they are approved.

A private tasting table by a window overlooking Fitzrovia rooftops at dusk

AddressThe Wine-Wanderluster is an exclusive experience service operated byRitzau-Lange Ltd.
45 Fitzroy Street,
London W1T 6EB,
United Kingdom

Emailinfo@wine-wanderluster.com

Phone+44 (0)20 4634 2133

Get in touch

Tell Jannik which experience caught your eye, or what you would like to plan. He replies to every message himself.