Celebrating English Wine!
In this jubilee month, we thought we would take a look at, and sample a glass or two of English Wine. I served some English sparkling at the street party I attended a couple of weeks ago.
Firstly, let’s explain the difference between British and English wine
British wine is a wine made in the UK but made from grapes or grape juice brought in from elsewhere (often Spain and Eastern Europe), fermented and bottled in the UK. On the other hand, English wine is made from grapes only grown here in England, so is truly English.
English wine has increased in popularity over the last decade or so, not just because we are buying local, but because of the recognition it is gaining for the premium wines being produced, often winning awards over French Champagne in blind tastings. There are now more than 180 wineries up and down England, with some as far north as Yorkshire, and south as Cornwall, and 700 vineyards. The wineries without their own vineyards buy grapes or juice from growers and then ferment and blend the wine according to their own “recipe”.
The French Champagne Houses are now beginning to take notice of vineyards in England, especially in Kent and Hampshire. Increasing numbers of vineyards are being planted, with more than 3,500 hectares of vines, an increase of nearly 24% from 2017 to 2018, and over 5 1/2 million bottles produced in 2019 (still small compared to the production of Champagne at 300 million bottles per annum and Prosecco at 500 million pa)
Many English vineyards are planeted on chalk, similar to the “terroir” in the Champagne region – and the grapes grown here for English fizz are the same too: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.
Other wine varieties planted in England may be less familiar with names such as Bacchus, Seyval Blanc, Müller-Thurgau, Madeleine Angevine. These tend to be used for still wines and are grown in small quantities, with correspondingly low production. Prices reflect this, and I suspect that as English sparkling wine becomes more and more popular, growers may concentrate on the key 3 grapes, Chardonnay, PM and PN and focus on production of English Fizz.
The first vineyard was planted in England in 1951 – just one year before Princess Elizabeth became Queen- so raise your glass this Jubilee year to both Queen Elizabeth II and the English wine industry.
Take a look at the English wines we have chosen, primarily from Kent and Hampshire:
Cheers to Her Majesty and English Wine
Penny
