Ben Walgate

Ben Walgate grew up in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, in a farming family. While initially moving away from farming to study classics at university, he fell in love with wine after a summer of working in vineyards in Western Europe. He returned to the UK to study viticulture and oenology at Plumpton College.

Following his studies, Walgate ran a business importing and selling rare wines before taking over the management of a vineyard on the Isle of Wight. He was later the CEO of Gusbourne, a sparkling wine producer in Kent. In 2017, he co-founded Tillingham in East Sussex, a vineyard focused on natural and biodynamic wines. In 2023, he left Tillingham to start his new venture, Walgate Wines, based in a winery in Rye. His focus is on producing high-quality still wines that express the unique qualities of the grapes, using a low-intervention, lo-fi approach. He sources grapes from some of the best growers in the southeast of England.