Chapel Down makes English sparkling and still wines from grapes grown in south-east England. It is based in Kent, where visitors can tour its vineyard and winery at Tenterden.
What you get
Silver holders get an annual discount voucher. Gold and Platinum holders get ongoing wine, shop and restaurant discounts, tours and event access.
What it takes
You need at least one share.
Silver
1–1,999 shares
- Annual discount voucher: 25% off Use it once a year, online while logged into your shareholder account or at the winery shop. The code arrives in your welcome or annual update email.
Gold
2,000–9,999 shares
- Wine purchases: 33% off An ongoing discount on still and sparkling wines, taken off the full retail price of each product or mixed case.
- Annual guided tour and tasting: 2 places (£80 voucher) One booking a year. Book it through your own account and attend yourself. In 2026 the code can also part-pay the Cheese & Wine, Wine & Dine or Luxury Dining experiences. Unused codes do not roll forward. Emailed on joining, then each January. Valid for visits through , subject to availability.
- Food at The Swan: 25% off Up to four people per shareholder, and you must be present. Some dates are excluded, and it cannot be used with another offer or special event.
- Non-wine purchases at the winery shop: 25% off At the Tenterden winery shop.
- Events and invitations Early booking for events and exclusive invitations.
Platinum
10,000+ shares
- Wine purchases: 33% off An ongoing discount on still and sparkling wines, taken off the full retail price of each product or mixed case.
- Annual guided tour and tasting: 4 places (£160 voucher) One booking a year. Book it through your own account and attend yourself. In 2026 the code can also part-pay the Cheese & Wine, Wine & Dine or Luxury Dining experiences. Unused codes do not roll forward. Emailed on joining, then each January. Valid for visits through , subject to availability.
- Food at The Swan: 25% off Up to four people per shareholder, and you must be present. Some dates are excluded, and it cannot be used with another offer or special event.
- Non-wine purchases at the winery shop: 25% off At the Tenterden winery shop.
- Events and invitations Priority early booking for events and exclusive invitations.
- Standard online delivery Free standard delivery on online orders.
If a company holds the shares, benefits go to a named person who appears alongside the company on the share certificate or contract note.
Before buyingA perk is a minor benefit of owning a share, not a reason to buy one. Share prices fall as well as rise, and dealing costs, spreads and tax can exceed a perk’s value. Read about the risks.
Holding through a broker
Shares held in your own name qualify.
Nominee holders must provide proof of ownership.
ISA holdings: Eligible.
SIPP holdings: Eligible.
Chapel Down does not say whether overseas shareholders can claim.
Choose a broker to see its guidance. The company’s eligibility rules still apply.
Hargreaves Lansdown Documented route
Message HL securely; it notifies Chapel Down, which emails you a form. HL labels its directory April 2025. Check current issuer terms; this route has not been tested.
Broker source , checked
interactive investor Documented route
ii sends Chapel Down a request and application form. ii labels this entry August 2026. Check current issuer terms; this route has not been tested.
Broker source , checked
Other conditions
- Excluded holders
- Investment clubs or groups; Two or more friends holding jointly
- Joint holdings
- Couples at the same address may hold jointly if both names appear on the evidence. Each couple gets one shareholder number.
- Physical card required
- No
- Scheme administrator
- Chapel Down
How to claim
Email a contract note, share certificate or statement showing your name, how many shares you hold and your broker or nominee’s name. At the winery shop, staff look you up by full name, email address, postcode and shareholder number. You may be asked for ID showing your name.
- 1. Email your ownership evidenceEmail your evidence to the shareholder team at the address below. Chapel Down is not told automatically about AIM or nominee purchases. If you invested through Seedrs or Republic, ask the same team about your route.
- 2. Complete the benefits formThe reply links to an online form. Once Chapel Down has your evidence and the form, allow about a week for the welcome email with your benefits and account access.
- 3. Shop online or in personLog in before buying online and apply any voucher code at checkout. At the winery shop, tell staff you are a shareholder so they can find your record. Chapel Down no longer issues privilege cards.
- 4. Book tours and restaurant visitsBook an eligible tour or experience through your shareholder account and apply the code at checkout. You can add paid places in the same transaction. For The Swan, give your shareholder number when you book by phone, or type it in the comments box when you book online.
Shareholder team - Enrolment, account access and missing codes: shareholder@chapeldown.com
Exclusions and limits
Excluded: Reselling discounted purchases; Passing benefits to friends or family; Other offers and case-price promotions; Giving away or donating tour codes.
Participating storefronts: Direct purchases from Chapel Down’s website, winery shop or mail order service; the restaurant discount applies at The Swan.
The offer cannot be combined with other discounts.
Dates
The published terms do not say when you must own the shares, how long you must hold them, when the benefit expires or whether the scheme has an end date.
- Continued eligibility
- Benefits last only while you remain a shareholder. Tell Chapel Down if you sell or transfer shares, change your holding or change your contact details.
Practical notes
Match the benefit to your tier
The Silver voucher works once. It is not the standing discount Gold and Platinum holders see when logged in. Check your tier before planning a purchase or visit.
Tour expiry is separate
The visit deadline on a tour voucher applies to that voucher only. It is not an end date for the scheme. Book ahead, especially for weekends.
Compare dining bookings
For an experience that includes a meal, compare its price with booking a tour and a meal at The Swan separately using the restaurant discount. Which is cheaper depends on the booking.
Check your broker separately
Chapel Down accepts evidence for nominee, ISA and SIPP holdings. That does not tell you what your broker will provide or permit. We have not tested any broker’s route.
History of the perk
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Silver and Platinum open more widely
By March 2023, Silver had opened to holders of a single share. From March 2023, any holder of at least 10,000 shares qualified for Platinum.
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Numbers and categories replace cards
Privilege cards issued before August 2021 were withdrawn. Holders received shareholder numbers and Silver, Gold or Platinum categories by email. Chapel Down created Platinum for investors who bought at least 10,000 shares in the 2021 crowdfund.
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A package for smaller holdings
With the Seedrs crowdfund, Chapel Down added a package for holders of 500 to 1,999 shares: a tour and tasting for two and one 25% purchase voucher a year. Seedrs investors with 2,000 or more shares received a privilege card by post. The October page also listed a quarter off Curious beers for holders of 2,000 or more shares.
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Discounts on wine, vine leases and dining
From 1 May 2012, holders of 2,000 shares received a third off wines and vine leases and a 25% voucher for a meal for two at The Swan.
Company story
A difficult start
Chapel Down grew from a merger of the Lamberhurst, Tenterden and Carr Taylor vineyards around 2000, according to Decanter, which describes an unsuccessful start. Frazer Thompson told Vineyard magazine that he left his job as Heineken’s global brand director to become Chapel Down’s chief executive in November 2001, “bored with working for a huge corporate”. Decanter, retelling a Telegraph interview, says a firm came to repossess the photocopier on his first day and he talked them into leaving it.
Shareholders who spread the word
Chapel Down’s 2012 sales pitch told shareholders that drinking two bottles of Bacchus a week would save them over £300 a year. Thompson called investors “pilgrims for our brands” in Harpers in 2013 and said the benefits encouraged them to spread the word. He repeated “pilgrims” in 2014, saying the company wanted more small investors and wanted to look after them.
The Curious brewery
Curious Drinks promised investors in its 2015 brewery crowdfund that their names would be etched on the fermentation tanks, according to Decanter. Harpers reported that the campaign drew 895 investors. By 2020, Chapel Down’s shareholder page included a discount at the Curious Brewery in Ashford. The Morning Advertiser reported in February 2021 that Curious sold 90% of its beer to pubs, bars and restaurants, whose trade the pandemic had disrupted, and would enter administration for a sale to Risk Capital Partners. The report said Curious shareholders were offered Chapel Down shares worth about half their original investment. The Guardian reported in June 2021 that the sale had completed in April.
Crowdfunding and Platinum
Chapel Down said its 2014 campaign raised £3.95 million in just over three weeks and its 2021 campaign raised £6.876 million in 33 days. Thompson told The Guardian in 2021 that the company’s “broad congregation of investors” was crucial to its success. Chapel Down created Platinum benefits for the largest investors in the 2021 crowdfund, then opened the category to other holders in March 2023. When he retired as chief executive in 2021, Thompson said he would stay on as a substantial shareholder. Chapel Down’s June 2026 AGM announcement put its number of retail investors at over 10,000.
Sources: Decanter, 2020 ; Vineyard magazine, 2022 ; Harpers Wine & Spirit, 2013 ; The Morning Advertiser, 2021 ; The Guardian, 2021