The release of Bridgerton’s Season 3 saw many around the world glued to their televisions to see what unfolds in one of Netflix’s most popular series (both seasons 1 and 2 feature in Netflix’s Top 10 shows of all time). This season’s narrative sweeps viewers giddily across breathtaking historic locations around the UK.
The locales form an integral part of the story – past seasons have showcased Bath’s Royal Crescent (the Featherington home) and Hampton Court Palace (Queen Charlotte’s residence) among others. During filming, the locations are kept strictly under wraps to avoid being overrun by Bridgerton’s vast fan brigade.
Scene from Bridgerton’s season 3, episode 01
| Photo Credit:
Liam Daniel
Equally low-key as the filming locations has been the story of English sparkling wine’s rapid rise to fame. The main reason for its success is not a mystery: England’s vineyards, primarily located in Kent and Sussex, are separated from France by the English Channel; a short distance from the world’s most famous sparkling wine region: Champagne.
In fact, most English vineyards feature chalk soils similar to that in Champagne. Their vineyards are also strategically planted to capture sunshine to ensure perfect ripening, an important factor in England’s marginal climate. With the added advantage of modern technology and viticultural research, little wonder that English sparkling wines have been winning international wine competitions, even beating champagne houses in blind tastings.
So, there was even more reason to cheer when the gardens of Squerryes Court were picked as a location to film Bridgerton. Home to the Warde family, owners of the award-winning Squerryes vintage-only sparkling wines, Squerryes Court features in the opening scene of the season: a lavish garden party held post the introduction of the season’s debutantes to Queen Charlotte, where the audience is reintroduced to many beloved characters from seasons past.
Squerryes Court
Party like its Bridgerton
I visited Squerryes in 2021, and during a lunch meeting with owner Henry Warde on the sunny, sprawling terrace of the winery restaurant, found it brimming with summer visitors enjoying their brunch with a bottle of Squerryes bubbles on ice alongside: an Insta-perfect modern version of a Bridgerton party. I had little idea this might be reality soon.
Unlike many modern English wineries, Squerryes has the advantage of being part of a historic estate. The 2,500-acre estate in Westerham, Kent includes a 17th Century estate house. Located on the North Downs, it is officially deemed one of the UK’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Besides the imposing Squerryes Court, the estate also includes 20 acres of manicured gardens, a lake, and surrounding woodlands.
Squerryes Court was built in 1681 in the early Georgian style with an impressive mellow orange brick façade. “The family moved in, in 1731 and have lived here ever since,” said Warde, eighth generation owner of Squerryes. The gardens were laid in 1692, designed in the formal style of Hampton Court Palace, the royal residence of Henry VIII. “In 1987, my mother restored the gardens to their original design,” he explains.
Squerryes sparkling wine
I spoke again with Warde a couple of hours after the first episodes of season 3 had dropped. Had he seen them yet? Not yet, he admitted. He was not a Bridgerton regular, though others in his family were.
The filming at Squerryes took place in August 2022, over a period of two and a half weeks. “We had five meetings with the production team before they decided on the venue. Squerryes is a private family home, and besides living in the house, we host events here. We finally managed to find a three-week window where no events were scheduled. That was when they came and set up everything in absolute secrecy.”
Squerryes
The secrecy meant Warde had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Netflix: “We could not talk about this for two years! The first question they asked was whether we had space for 350 cars. The production included 100 extras, used for the garden party, 200 crew members, 50 cast members and their entourages. That opening scene was filmed on a really big scale.” Bridgerton’s massive fan following meant secrecy was essential, so 16 security guards accompanied the team.
Much of the time was used to set up and later dismantle the sets. “The actual filming took just four days, during which we (Warde, his wife Claire and their children) were confined to the living area of the house not in use. Most of the house was used by the cast as a giant green room,” said Warde.
Scene from Bridgerton’s season 3, episode 01
| Photo Credit:
Liam Daniel
Unfamiliar with Bridgerton stars, Warde had this to say about them: “I really didn’t know who the actors were, but they were all so nice, so polite and very appreciative.” Did they get to drink Squerryes wines? The crew did celebrate with Squerryes wine at the wrap party once the shooting was over, he confirmed.
The garden scene, the first scene of the season, was the last to be shot before the production wrapped up. Warde describes the shoot: “It was a huge scene featuring all the lead actors and a hundred extras – the camera panned across the gardens from a height. My wife and I were crouched out of sight behind a tent, watching, when our cocker spaniel, Inca, escaped and ran into the shot. She went wild, seeing 100 people in funny outfits that she couldn’t recognise!” If you are a trivia buff, look out for a little dog photo-bombing the scene.
Boutique and beautiful
Squerryes might have been in the family for centuries, but grapes were first planted only in 2006. This happened after the Wardes received a visit from a famous champagne house keen to buy the property after finding the location and the soil remarkably akin to Champagne. “It got me thinking, and I decided I didn’t want to sell the property to them. I wanted to make wine myself.”
Squerryes makes only vintage sparkling wines in the traditional method from its own 55 acres of vines – the popular Brut 2020, a blend of the three classic champagne grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; a Blanc de Blancs (2017 is the current release), the Squerryes rosé 2020, a blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Meunier; as well as the much-coveted Late Disgorged 2013, that spends 87 months on lees for added complexity. The Squerryes 2011 LD was awarded Best in Show at the Decanter Wine Awards in 2021, placing it on the list of the top 50 wines of the world that year.
Squerryes sparkling wine
Squerryes encourages buying its wines via the membership route – these are currently sold in the UK only, as production is limited (100,000 bottles in 2023). Besides getting a slew of benefits including discounts on the wine, members get exclusive invitations to the events hosted at Squerryes, including musical evenings, fine wine dinners and black-tie opera evenings at the Great Hall.
Visits to Squerryes are welcome, says Warde, though by prior appointment only. Being a mere one hour from London, access is easy by car or by rail. “It is easy to spend an entire day here,” says Warde, “Start with a wine tasting in the historic Cork room, full of memorabilia and historic photos, have a nice lunch at one of our estate restaurants where Chef Seamus McDonagh’s menu, with ingredients sourced or foraged from the estate, has innumerable fans. Our wine list has been curated by Laura Evans MW, and includes not just Squerryes wines, but others, still and sparkling, including some from top neighbouring wineries. This is a true experience of Kent and life as it was on a 2,500-acre English estate established 300 years ago. It makes us quite unique and very intriguing.”
Squerryes’ gardens
What’s next? Summer festivities at Squerryes are on in full swing, and summer 2025 might be even more fun – with a Bridgerton-style summer party planned – so those who register can experience the joy of English life as it was in the Regency era. As Warde says, “Our family motto is Licet esse beatis: Latin for ‘it is permitted to be joyful’. Indeed, we have been in the business of creating joy for 300 years – now we are bottling it.”
