Lyme Bay Sparkling Rosé - image by Matt Austin
English wine is on a roll and bubbly leads the way! So, what's behind this resurgence and can our fizz really rival the best from overseas?The modern English winemaking renaissance began around 30 years ago. Firstly, Nyetimber in West Sussex, then Ridgeview in East Sussex put English sparkling wine on the international map. Then others followed, winning an increasing number of medals in global competitions. From 42 vineyards in the Doomsday book, today there are over 800 in England and Wales, with more than 200 open to visitors.
Hattingley Valley in Hampshire
The chalky soils of the North and South Downs are the same as those found across the Channel. So, rather than continuing with only Germanic grape varieties, from the late 1980s, the 'holy trinity' of Champagne grapes - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier - began to be planted more widely in the south of England to make high quality sparkling wines.
In the Decanter World Wine Awards 2022, one of the most prestigious international competitions, Great Britain won a record haul of 151 medals. These included a Best in Show for Hampshire's Coates & Seely Reserve Brut NV, 5 Gold medals, 55 Silvers and 41 Bronzes for other sparkling wines, covering many different counties.
Camel Valley in Cornwall
Although the majority of vineyards are in the south of England, grapes are planted across England and Wales, from north to south and east to west. Both still and sparkling styles are made, but bubbly accounts for over 70%.
English sparkling wine is generally made in the same way as Champagne, i.e. the 'traditional method'. It's characterised by a bracingly vibrant and fresh acidity, often allied to an orchard fruit brightness and elegant structure.
James Lambert, MD and head winemaker at award-winning Devon producer, Lyme Bay Winery, explains further. "We can retain such natural balanced acidity in this country and, due to the longer growing season, can complement that with extraordinary freshness and complexity."
Lyme Bay source their grapes from vineyards across England, particularly Essex. These Pinot Noir grapes are sourced from Martin's Lane Vineyard near Chelmsford.
So how does English sparkling wine compare to others, like Champagne? Lambert continues: "The two are becoming much closer stylistically, as we start to build reserve wines and play more with non-vintage blends. We can naturally achieve such balance now for our fizz base wines, while retaining that special crisp acidity and purity of fruit which a longer and cooler growing season affords us."
House of Coren will use grapes from their own vineyard in West Sussex from the 2022 vintage of Boco. Up till now, they've bought in grapes from elsewhere.
One exciting recent development is the emergence of lower-priced Charmat-method sparkling wine, like Boco by House of Coren, based in West Sussex. With Charmat, secondary fermentation occurs in a large tank, like Prosecco, rather than in the bottle, which is the traditional method. "We have fantastic grape quality and lots of fruit flavour, as well as incredible acidity", says CEO Will Coren. "To me that lends itself so well to the Charmat method. It's different from the traditional method - not better or worse, just different. Having diversity in the market is really important."
You can read my thoughts about the latest WineGB trade tasting on LinkedIn.
The future of English sparkling wine is … well … sparkling and the lure of making wine in England has not been lost on the Champenois either. Two Champagne Houses already planted vines to make wine in the south of England. More are expected to follow. As Coren says: "A couple of years ago, people were saying there are too many vineyards. The more we grow, the bigger we'll be on the international stage and the better it'll be for everyone."
This article was first written for Sunseeker Magazine, a luxury travel publication
