Plans for a multimillion-pound wine and spirits centre have been unveilled. 

The concept for the South Downs Wine and Sprit Centre was revealed at the end of English Wine Week and aims to capitalise on the booming English wine industry.

Based in Lewes, the £6 million hub would include a tasting room, museum, conferencing facilities, hotel rooms and rooftop terrace complete with growing vines.

Nick Mosley, managing director of the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival, is behind the plan.

He has been working with Lewes District Council over the last 18 months, while talks are ongoing with a developer with a view to the centre taking up space in a larger development.

Financial backers and lottery funding is also being sought with a possible completion within two or three years.

Mr Mosley is working with Brighton-based Yelo Architects on the project, with managing director and founder Andy Parsons presenting a visual walk-through at an English Wine Producers’ event on Hove Lawns on Friday.

He used first-person video game technology to walk the audience through the centre in a world exclusive of the plans.

It will include a spirit blending area, a retail space, a bar area, cellarage, space to grow herbs and botanicals and a restaurant looking out on to the River Ouse.

Upstairs there will be a museum and conferencing and event facilities which could be hired out for wedding receptions.

There will also be a private tasting room and roof terrace looking out on to the river.

The business model is currently being finalised with Heritage Lottery Funding being looked at for funding.

Speaking after the presentation, Julia Trustram Eve, marketing director of English Wine Producers, said: “There are so many more wine producers than people realise in the UK and so many are from Sussex. This really is a fantastic new concept.”

The announcement was made before a supper which included wine from Albourne Estate, near Hassocks, Ridgeview, near Ditchling, Court Garden, also near Ditchling, Plumpton College, Bolney Estate and Blackdown Spirits.

Background

Sussex is considered the home of English wine, with an industry worth £50 million a year to the local economy and an impressive 72 recognised vineyards.

Sparkling wines in particular regularly win international awards and beat their French counterparts from the Champagne region.

The chalky geography and cool climate make the South Downs in particular an ideal place to grow sparkling wine grape varieties such as pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay.

Spirits are also becoming more popular in Sussex, with Blackdown Spirits and Brighton Gin making a splash in the industry.

But other than tasting rooms in vineyards there is no centre which celebrates the industry.