The owners want to make it a destination
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14:24, 2 APR 2026
Updated09:58, 3 APR 2026
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From the coffee to cake, the emphasis is on top Nottinghamshire produce at a new cafe opening its doors over the Easter bank holiday.
And best of all, the wine served comes from the cafe’s very own vineyard just outside the door. Customers can see the vines growing from the window seats.
The 80-seater Vineyard Cafe is a new addition to Wolds Wine Estate in Stanton-on-the-Wolds, around six miles south east of Nottingham. Two years in the planning, the public were welcomed on Good Friday (April 3) from 9am.
Within the wood-beamed cabin, breakfasts are served, including a Full English, steak and eggs, pancakes and pastries from the acclaimed Welbeck Bakehouse in north Notts.
An introductory lunch menu for the first week features light bites of soup and mushrooms on toast, classic mains of fish and chips, pies, and the Wolds burger, with pancetta crisps, homemade tomato chutney and pickles made in-house.
Healthy options include sushi bowls and Caesar salad. Sandwiches range from ham hock to tomato caprese. A meat and cheese platter comes with British charcuterie and three English cheeses, Welbeck flatbread and the cafe’s tomato chutney.
Coffee is provided by Stewarts in Sneinton Market and cakes are from Beeston Brownies. Once fully up and running afternoon tea and Sunday roasts will be introduced.
Rob Kalisiak, who runs the business with wife Louise, said: “Bookings have gone really well and loads of people have said they’re going to pop in and see us.”
The couple bought the land for the vineyard, off Thurlby Lane, in 2019, and planted the 4,000 vines during 2020, just as the first Covid pandemic lockdown was announced.
Rob said: “Originally we had a big group of people lined up, lots of friends, to help plant. We were planting the first weekend of Covid so we couldn’t get anyone to help us. It was myself, my mum, her partner and my wife, who was heavily pregnant with our twins at the time.
“That weekend it snowed, it sleeted, we had high winds, it rained. It was a very miserable experience.
“But since then everything’s gone a lot better. The vines are still young, this year will be our fourth harvest and we estimate we’ll get about 4,000 bottles.”
Before getting into the wine industry, Rob used manage large call centres out in India and the Philippines and Louise worked at the University of Nottingham.
“We had the opportunity to go travelling for a year and as part of that we went to Italy because my mum’s Italian and I have family over there. We travelled Italy working in different vineyards and B&Bs,” said Rob, explaining what inspired them to become winemakers.
“We thought maybe we should buy somewhere over there but it didn’t happen so we came back to the UK and went back to our jobs. But the itch was still there and when this land became available we thought why not make the Italian dream come true here?”
The type of natural wines produced depends on the weather. Rob said: “2024 was a really bad year with a lot of rain so we only did three wines, a fizzy pink, fizzy red and fizzy white.”
Last year was a much better year, with both fizzy and still wines, including an orange wine.
Boasting 4,000 vines, white Solaris and red Rondo grapes are grown, both varieties suitable for colder climates. In another section more familiar names Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier can be found.
The wines are made in a room adjacent to the cafe, where a viewing window allows the public a glimpse of production.
A range ciders are also produced on-site, including a still, fizzy, oak-aged and some with honey, grapes or blackberries. Both the wines and ciders have won silver and bronze awards.
It takes three years before the first harvest and another year before the first bottles are ready, so to make money during the early stages, the couple introduced a number of glamping pods overlooking the vineyard.
“We wanted to make it a real destination place where more people could come and experience English viticulture and see what we’re doing with our wines and ciders. We started the tours but ultimately we always wanted a cafe set up here so people could enjoy the views and enjoy the vineyard,” said Rob.
The vines are currently a month ahead of where they normally are meaning the buds are beginning to burst, making Rob jittery.
“Now they are very susceptible to any late frosts. This is my most nervous time of year so I start to look at the forecasts and if we’re getting a frosty night I have to come out in the middle of the night and light frost candles to try and keep the temperature up to help the vines survive the frost.
“Once the grapes are ready it’s a case of looking out for birds because they can devour the grapes. They don’t tend to eat green grapes because they can’t see them and they don’t necessarily associate green with food but they love the red grapes,” he said.
The vineyard used to provide wines and ciders for Delilah Fine Foods, Little Brickhouse, Slice ‘n’ Brew and Jamcafe in Nottingham city centre but right not there’s not enough to supply them.
However, they can be bought in the retail area of the cafe, along with bottles from other winemakers, including Matt Gregory, and gin from the Ruddy Fine Gin company in Ruddington.
Other artisan products include honey, produced by the vinery’s own beehives, rum caked from Arnold-based Harrison & Griffiths, Mr Pitchfork’s Pickles, another popular Nottingham company, and beer from Black Iris Brewery in New Basford.
Inside the new Vineyard Cafe (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)1 of 7ShareComments
Inside the new Vineyard Cafe
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The Wolds Burger topped off with onion rings (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)2 of 7ShareComments
The Wolds Burger topped off with onion rings
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The cafe overlooks the vineyard (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)3 of 7ShareComments
The cafe overlooks the vineyard
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Pink and white fizz produced at Wolds Wine Estate (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)4 of 7ShareComments
Pink and white fizz produced at Wolds Wine Estate
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The wine production area (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)5 of 7ShareComments
The wine production area
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The Vineyard Cafe (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)6 of 7ShareComments
The Vineyard Cafe
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The retail section selling local artisan products (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)7 of 7ShareComments
The retail section selling local artisan products
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