British wine seems to be a bit of a joke, but the English are no stranger to making wine. Today say wine and you think France, Italy, or Spain. But, winemaking in the British Isles is as old as the Romans who occupied the country in 43 BC. English wine has a YoYo history thanks to invasions: the Jutes and the Angles spelled doom for it.
Christianity brought wine back in vogue when it became good business for monasteries, which were destroyed along with their vineyards by the Vikings. King Alfred thumped the Vikings and the churchmen got their vines back. During the time of William the Conqueror, a Frenchman, there were 42 vineyards in the island.
The first commercial English vineyard was opened in 1955. Now, that number is 221, with most of them situated in the four coastal counties of West and East Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire. The total area under vine is 4,209 hectares; a 123 per cent increase over the last decade. English winemakers want their wines to be taken seriously,
Tim Jackson, the first resident Master of Wine for British Airways (BA), says English wine, particularly sparkling, has been developing rapidly over the last 20 years. “The English wine scene has transitioned from an amateur, hobbyist, cottage industry to a far more professionalised, commercial setup,” he says. This has led to the emergence of larger, more visible brands with a strong sales and marketing focus.
English winemaking was started by invaders, and it isn’t that different now. French vineyards and wineries have been established in the UK by major Champagne houses, Pommery, and Taittinger. So have international winemaking businesses such as Jackson Family Wines from the US and the Jordan family from South Africa.
Though commercial British wine has been around for over four decades, Mike and Chris Roberts planted the first vines in Sussex in 1995. Their Ridgeview brand produced award-winning wines and are now exported to Norway, Finland, and Japan. It is now led by the second generation, Tamara Roberts and Simon Roberts.
Ridgeview is served at Buckingham Palace and was anointed the official wine of 10 Downing Street. Along with using grapes from their heritage vines, Ridgeview partners with vineyards across Southern England to source grape. “Diversifying grape sources from select vineyards is key to the quality of wine,” Simon says.
Tom Wedgery, Sales and Retail Operations Manager at Sandridge Barton, says the British climate now is very similar to that of Champagne around 40 years ago. “The southwest has a warming influence—from the gulf stream in the Atlantic as well as proximity to the coast. This makes the climate perfect,” Wedgery says.
Jackson says the cool nature of England—cooler even than the northern latitudes of Champagne—results in grapes that ripen with high acidity. “Acidity is ideal for making good sparkling wines. It brings freshness that can be balanced by a combination of less maturation inside the bottle for richness, and the ‘dosage’ of a small amount of sugar to offset the sharpness of acidity,” he says.
The Master of Wine pinpoints the role geology plays in winemaking. “The most famous sparkling wine in the world, champagne, comes from vineyards planted on chalk. The south east has a band of chalk that goes to the White Cliffs of Dover—literally the same soil as Champagne. Coupled with the same grape varieties and production method, and increasing expertise, that’s a strong recipe for quality wines,” he says.
The 2018 harvest played a vital role in galvanising UK’s wine industry. The warm, sunny, dry spring led to a big crop, followed by a continuously sunny summer and early autumn. “Previous harvests had been around five million bottles of wine, but 2018 saw over 12 million,” Jackson says.
This gave Brit wineries enough volume to take their products to a wide audience. Jackson says part of the excitement in the English wine industry is the development of interesting, high quality wineries and wines. “Some are boutique, such as the Sugrue South Downs winery, while others are much larger with more international visibility, such as Nyetimber, Gusbourne, Wiston or Balfour,” he says. The winemaker rates the Simpsons Chalklands Classic Cuvée and Digby Fine English Brut highly. It is always happy hour in England, and wine has much to do with it.
“The English wine scene has transitioned into a far more professionalised, commercial setup.”
Tim Jackson, Master of Wine, BA
