please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This IS a lovely and unspoilt country pub, but within a spit of Wimborne. Great beers and ciders, with good, basic, food. This is the sort of place country pubs should be like. (I will second the dislike of the plastic garden furniture, but will happily put up with it as the pub is so good.) 9/10
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A perfect illustration of when you get the basics right all else is irrelevant. A simple choice of good ale and basic food in a lovely old pub in beautiful surroundings. This is a wonderful example of what a good English country pub can be.
Floyd - 15 Apr 2012 17:09 |
As expected, we found this pub closed initially when we arrived shortly after 3pm on our Saturday afternoon visit. On our return in the evening, we found an unspoiled rural gem with 3 very small rooms on 2 levels. The top level at the roadside has a set of steps leading down to the tiny bar, where there is one table, 2 chairs, a few stools along one wall and a small bench on the opposite wall. Having more than 4 or 5 people in this room would make it very crowded. There is also a cosy lounge at the rear, which seemed to be the most popular room. Toilets are accessed from outside, from where you can get good views over to Wimborne and the Minster. As you would expect in such a confined space, conversation reigns and you soon get to meet interesting people. There are 2 changing ales. On our visit, there was Island Wight Gold & Exmoor Gold. The former was changed for Plain Ales Sheep Dip whilst we were there. Cider by Rosie is normally stocked. But only Westons 1st Quality & Country Perry were remaining yesterday. I always really enjoy discovering pubs like this. They are like stepping back in time to a lost heritage. There are few better pubs in the country than this one, when it comes to atmosphere.
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A lovely pub in which to spend a summer evening. Great beer with different guest beers and very friendly staff. Good glass of red wine for a pub too. A little gem. My only criticism is the awful plastic garden furniture. Otherwise bliss!
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Another time warp gem, easily found using a map by those of us fortunate enough to be born in the Common Sense era. Wonderful location, great friendly landlady and drinkers present. Bread was a little past its best in our ploughmans, but not complaining really, good points at this pub def wipe away any such niggles. Bonus personally for us being that the pub did not, like so many others, resemble a creche. Long may the 'health & safety bothering stairs' remain ...!
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Well this is my shangri la I call it my local although its not my nearest pub by far but it is closest to my heart Landlady Linda is magic and so many interesting fellow drinkers the public is my preferred bar and Palmers and Otter my favourite beers but always open to new ones so whatever is in the "KITCHEN" is usually my choice
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Yes, been meaning to come here for ages and Nigel brought me in his camper van. Superb establishment and complete timewarp, and please may it stay that way. Decent pint of cider as well, Heaven!
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This is just one of those pubs, you either get it or you don't. To have a quiet chat with a cheese toasty and a well kept pint of something obscure is heaven to me, may it stay like this for ever.....
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A quaint pub with some nice old (original?) touches built 200 years ago on two levels as a bakery, becoming a pub in 1900 apparently.
Beer-wise there was London Pride available at the tiny bar (the other guest had just ran out), served by a pair of charming ladies who made our group feel welcome. Otherwise, there's two rooms - a nice lounge to the side of the bar, or a public bar up a set of health and safety-bothering stairs. There's a tidy beer garden out the back through a nice old set of french doors.
Pub can be a bit of a git to find if you don't have sat nav, keep your eyes peeled.
A solid place, worth making a detour for if nearby for the uniqueness of the interior and welcome afforded. I'm not sure I can get quite as effusive as previous reviewers though, it wasn't quite the life-changing experience.
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What a brilliant pub. Don't change anything!
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It's very difficult to decide whether this or the Square & Compass at Worth Matravers is my favourite pub. But I think the Vine probably beats the Square. This tiny, tiny pub of dolls house proportions is, as St Joanna Lumley would say, absolutely fabulous. If you go into the lounge bar, it's like being in a 1950's caravan; and, well, the public bar is something else!!! Sitting under the stairs on a stool, trying not to bump your head or knocking over someone else's beer when there are more tha 3 people in the bar is just indescribable. The beer is great - and well priced as well -, the bar snack food tasty and good value, the landlady welcoming (although her dog is a bit loud when it stands at the counter and deafens you with its bark) and the little garden is welcoming. When I've been out for a walk around Wareham and the countryside between there and Blandford, I really look forward to my pint or four at the Vine. BTW - my wife does the driving if we go to the Vine because the beer just slips down so easily whit all the good conversation - but don't tell the local temperance society.
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I took a couple of visitors to see a few classic pubs in Dorset. We went to the Square & Compass at Worth Matravers, but this place is much better. Obviously, the scenery is no match for the S&Q, but overall the pub is 10 times better, and one mustn't forget the beer, which is more varied, better quality and cheaper that one gets at the S&Q.
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My most enjoyable visit ever to this classic. It is like stepping back in time to the 1930s.
Great range of beers - Amarillo (Milk Street), Otter, St Valentine's Day Massacre (Church End). And lovely toasted sandwiches. A 9/10.
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My favorite pub because a. its local to me b.its a proper old fashioned place that serves good reasonably priced real beer(and cider) ,no music,little in the way of food(nice pasties), warm friendly place and walkers cyclists and dogs are welcome.
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This is without a doubt my favourite pub.
I have one regret, I dont live next door.
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Tiny, but what an excellent pub, well worth the detour as the A31 was closed!
Not difficult to find at all, the map got me there as easily as the sat nav.
Good beer and simple yet excellent Cheese Ploughman's.
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We stopped here a few months ago on a weekday lunchtime. Dificult to find (we had to ask directions at the farm shop) but well worth the effort. As others have said it is a very small pub but in a lovely location and pretty much untouched by modern day. The real ale was well kept (can't remember what it was but remember it was good) and we just had a ploughman's which was basic but an enormous chunk of cheese. A shame so few of these old style pubs are still around.
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The Vine is certainly worth finding to visit......with good condition ales. food choice is bound to be limited in a tiny place like this, so dont go along expecting gastro stuff.......
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My wife and I visit the Vine regularly. It has a pleasant and friendly atmosphere, friendly landlady and very good real ales which are well kept.
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This is a wonderful pub, we stopped there on the way to Devon on the recommendation of a friend. The bar is probably the tiniest I've seen, and the place is really old fashioned which makes it worth a visit. We enjoyed a fantastic ploughmans and a game of draughts on one of the outdoor sets fixed to the table tops in the garden. This has got to be better than motorway services. It is quite hard to find, so keep your wits about you, it's worth it!
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OK in summer months. Too crowded inside at lunch time rest of the year.
Good beer, but little choice of food.
anonymous - 3 Mar 2005 20:27 |
If ever they decide to change the Vine, they will end up destroying it. It is sad that so many of these genuine old pubs are now gone. I know of only two others in our area - and they are the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers and the Cuckoo in Hamptworth.
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I now live in Canada - but I still think of the Vine as my local - and a real treasure. Do not change it or try and keep up with the times!
Gordon Hollis - 5 Oct 2004 01:05 |
One of the very few real pubs that actually knows how to keep and present a good pint. The Guest Bitters are always well chosen. Lets hope the 'great unwashed' will never discover this little gem.
John M. - 23 Sep 2004 21:51 |
A very small inn near Pamphill farm shop. Outside seating. Small bar serves good beer, the lounge is even smaller,friendly proprietress. Not THAT easy to find.
Ian - 24 Feb 2004 11:29 |
Used to play darts here years ago.
Imagine it 2 teams [about 8 people in each team]playing in a room no bigger than an average bedroom.As a visiting team though we always loved this fixture its a very special little pub.
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The Vine is one of those special pubs that has become very rare. The bar however is tiny, and most people choose to go outside in the garden if the weather is good. The Vine has not changed with the times - and that is the secret of its appeal.
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I have not been to this pub for some time.But if its anything like i remember, its unique. Definetly one of the smallest, most quaint and charming pubs in England.
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