There can be few days out more satisfying to the dedicated organic foodie and country lover than one spent at Wyken Vineyards, an ancient Suffolk estate housing the award winning Leaping Hare restaurant and cafe in a 400 year old barn surrounded by 7 acres of lush, silent vineyards and woods, and 4 acres of breathtaking Elizabethan gardens looking like something from a magazine in the dentists' waiting room. And the odd peacock and llama. It is difficult to say which elicits the greater groans of pleasure, the beamed and whitewashed interior of the superb barn or the sumptuous goods and foods for sale within it - or indeed without, for on a Saturday morning the grounds fill with local producers, their tables weighted with their meat, fish, vegetables, flour, cheeses, preserves and game.
A meal in the Leaping Hare need not be justified by a celebration - it is one. From the peace of the vineyards come Wyken's own wines (again award-winning) which can be found alongside their own venison, pheasant and pigeon, plus delights from their kitchen garden, all served in surroundings in which every texture, paint hue and article has been chosen to please and calm.
As if this were not enough, the rest of the vast, intriguing barn is a store of country and garden treasures, designer crafts and unusual, tactile, beautiful clothes from local and UK suppliers. A local nursery supplies the healthy plants for sale outside.
I can spend - and frequently have spent - a full day at Wyken. It is a place where one can simply be; a place to revel in the beauties of craft, foods, nature, time, quality and peace.
Wyken Vineyards is 9 miles NE of Bury St. Edmunds, off the A143. The Leaping Hare restaurant serves meals on Friday and Saturday evenings.