English Fine Wine

In the first quarter of this century, English wine has gone from being the butt of jokes to one of the most exciting, vibrant wine categories in the world. With its racy, zesty sparkling wines in particular, the country’s growing coterie of producers have carved out a whole new style of fizz that, while not yet rivalling Champagne, can, at its very best, certainly challenge it.

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England: Sparkling success stories & charming white wines

It is the sparkling wines that have led the charge – producers such as Ridgeview and Nyetimber realising, in the late 1990s, that the future lay in cultivating the same grape varieties as Champagne – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – and blending them in a similar style to the famous French region. As knowledge and investment increased, and other well-funded producers came on stream, so the quality of the wines started improving at a rapid rate, a warming climate further helping winemakers’ cause. Today, the best examples showcase a style of sparkling wine that harnesses England’s signature racy acidity and orchard fruits, while their producers have established committed followings and clear identities. A handful of English still wines are also now beginning to reach similar standards, largely via the same grape varieties, with Chardonnay leading the way.

Exceptional English wine regions

Kent

Kent has traditionally been known as the Garden of England, on account of its status as a rich source of orchard fruits. Grape growing has also been part of the mix for longer than is commonly believed, however, with several vineyards documented in the Domesday Book of 1086. The first commercial wines were released in the 1960s, and the county has been at the heart of England’s burgeoning wine scene ever since. In recent times, the hugely ambitious Gusbourne has been based here, producing both still and sparkling wines of increasing renown, while it was significant that Champagne Taittinger chose Kent to plant its vineyard that has since yielded its inaugural English fizz, Domaine Evremond.

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Sussex

The free-draining chalk of Sussex’s South Downs has proved to be fertile ground for English wineries, with several producers growing grapes in the region. Nyetimber, Ridgeview, Wiston Estate and Rathfinny are all based around here, and while many producers will also source fruit from neighbouring counties – notably Kent – the presence of the UK’s chief learning centre for winemakers, Plumpton College, lends further clout to Sussex’s vinous status.

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Hampshire

Hampshire’s coastal influence lends a certain tension and minerality to its wines, with the chalky soils particularly receptive to Chardonnay. Producers such as the venerable Hambledon have harnessed such conditions to full effect, the sea breezes yielding a pronounced freshness and elegance in their sparkling wines, allied to a notable aromatic expression and acidity.

Dorset

Dorset, to the west of Sussex and Hampshire, is marked by a streak of belemnite chalk, the same as that found in Champagne's Côte des Blancs, where it is known for the minerality and acidity it lends to the Chardonnay. Dorset’s cooler, slightly damper climate extends the growing season, allowing grapes, in a good year, to reach full phenolic ripeness. Among the standout producers here, Langham Estate takes a low-intervention approach to its traditional-method sparkling wines, pressing oxidatively, letting fermentation happen naturally, and ageing in used French oak, in common with many grower Champagnes.

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Popular English wine

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Show in Bond Pricing Buying in bond means the wine is stored in a bonded warehouse and no duty or VAT has been paid—ideal for storage or resale. <br>Duty paid means taxes are included and the wine is ready for home delivery and drinking.

N/V Rosé Extra Brut, Langham Wine Estate, Dorset (2019 Base Vintage)

2010 Blanc de Blancs, Wiston Estate, South Downs (Library Release)

N/V Blanc de Blancs, Wiston Estate, South Downs (Disgorgement August 2022)

2018 Blanc de Noirs, Rathfinny, Sussex

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English wine styles and grape varieties

The core style of English Sparkling Wine is the non-vintage cuvée – a wine blended from a range of vintages, thereby spreading the risk of the country’s sometimes variable climate. As a result, individual vintages are not yet as integral to the overall scene, at least from a consumer perspective, as in Champagne. That said, most producers do release vintage wines when the year justifies it – 2009 and 2010 were good examples of this, while the stretch from 2013-2016 also yielded some fine bottlings, with 2018 looking set to follow suit. Still wines are more vintage dependent, and require less ageing prior to release, with 2022 standing out in recent years.

English wine FAQs

How has English wine become so fashionable?

Few, if any, wine regions around the world have enjoyed such progress as English in the first quarter of this century. And the novelty factor has undoubtedly piqued the interest of many wine lovers, not least the more patriotic among them, who are justifiably delighted to see the country finally making wines that can rub shoulders with some of the world’s most notable names – not least Champagne. The ‘drink local’ element lends further lustre, especially with the rise of wine tourism at estates that cater for visitors via tours, dining and accommodation, and with the growth set to continue as the climate becomes more and more amenable to grape growing, there is no sign of the trend slowing any time soon.

What’s the difference between English Sparkling Wine and Champagne?

Much is made of the common factors that England’s vineyards share with Champagne – both in terms of the chalk soils (particularly prevalent in Kent and parts of Sussex), the relatively cool climate and – perhaps most significantly – the three core grape varieties used. Winemakers also use the same ‘traditional’ technique to achieve the all-important bubbles, via a secondary

fermentation in bottle (as opposed to the tank method of Prosecco, for example). The key points of difference are the core temperatures, which remain lower on this side of the channel, leading to more racy acidity and notes of orchard, rather than tropical, fruit. As a result of this, and the youth of the English wine scene, which means most producers have less reserve wine at their disposal, English fizz doesn’t tend to have that same lush creaminess of some of the very top vintage Champagnes.

Are there any decent English still wines?

In a word, yes. But not as many as there are sparkling wines. The whites lead the way here, and while there are several examples of classic Bacchus – England’s answer to Sauvignon Blanc with its zappy, gassy tones – it is Chardonnay that has got commentators most excited. The closest stylistic comparison here is probably Chablis, which shares the same cool climate and similar soils, leading to a tense, minerally, lean version of Chardonnay. That said, sites in Essex are enjoying more and more sunlight hours, thereby yielding riper grapes and, in the hands of a specialist such as Danbury Ridge, richer renderings, lent further weight by judicious oak ageing.

English wine producers

Within a short space of time, the English wine scene has become populated by a relatively diverse range of producers, with varied back stories. There are the originals, such as Ridgeview and Nyetimber, who blazed a trail in the 1990s. There are the ambitious new arrivals, such as Gusbourne and Rathfinny, often backed by corporate investors and City funding. And there are the more organic enterprises, such as Langham and Wiston, evolving on long-held family estates (albeit in this case on a vastly different scale from one another). All of them add character to the increasingly vibrant English wine scene, where a relatively collaborative spirit is further pushing progress.