Since the first Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines were planted in the 1980’s, English sparkling wine has come a long way. Most vineyards are in Kent, West Sussex and the South Downs in Hampshire and historically where hops, apples and pears have grown these mostly are good sites for grapes, where free draining soils on gently sloping south facing hillsides provide some of the best locations. To read more on English vineyards Stephen Skelton MW is consultant to many of the leading wine estates.
In 2022 we extended our range after an extensive blind tasting with two great tasters, Jancis Robinson MW & Richard Bampfield MW and we now have a pretty good spread of some of the best English Sparkling wines available. In the last decade English Sparkling Wines have benefitted from global warming and the younger wineries invested in data research and technology to find the standout locations. In the next decade we will continue to see further improvements in these sparkling wines as the vines age in these top vineyards and from even better winemaking practices.
There is an ever-growing demand for good English Sparkling. In fact, 8.8 million bottles were sold in 2023 of which 6.2 million were sparkling. To put that into perspective, in 2018 only 2.2 million sales of sparkling were made.
There is still a clear discrepancy between production and sales but this is mainly due to the fact many of these bottles will be used for either reserve wines or laying in the cellars for further ageing. As a young industry, building these reserve stocks is vitally important.
Production by year:
| 2023 | 21.6 million bottles |
| 2022 | 12.2 million bottles |
| 2021 | 9 million bottles |
| 2020 | 8.8 million bottles |
| 2019 | 10.5 million bottles |
| 2018 | 13.1 million bottles |
| 2017 | 5.3 million bottles |
Vines at Hundred Hills
Vines at Ridgeview Wine Estate Ditchling Common BN6 8TP. Photography by Paul Demuth 2019
Why is Sparkling wine thriving in the UK?
The UK is now producing some remarkable sparkling wines for a number of reasons. The warming trend associated with climate change has led to higher average temperatures, therefore allowing the successful ripening of the grape varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, provided vineyards are carefully located. In addition to this, the UK boasts unique and favourable soils for cultivating grapes. Famously chalky soils across parts of Buckinghamshire, Kent, Dorset and Hampshire and interesting clay soils in parts of Essex (the driest and warmest part of the country).
Initially the climate in England was so marginal and that was the driving force in style and quality of the wines but with the effects of global warming it will be interesting to see whether soils will now have a bigger impact and become more of a focal point. However there is still many challenges to face. As we Brits know, there is plenty of rain here in the UK and this brings disease pressure to vines and grapes. Downy mildew is the big threat and at the other end of the growing season botrytis can be a big issue.
View our selection of English Sparling wines here.
