English sparkling wine is

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, typically produced to the

traditional method The traditional method for producing sparkling wine is the process used in the Champagne region of France to produce Champagne. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called "Champagne"), in Spain ...

and mostly using the same varieties of grapes as used in

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

–

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

and

Pinot Meunier Pinot Meunier (), also known as Meunier or Schwarzriesling (), is a variety of red wine grape most noted for being one of the three main varieties used in the production of Champagne (the other two are the red variety Pinot noir and the white ...

. English sparkling wine producers often employ Champagne terminology to describe the styles of their wine, such as "Classic Cuvée", "Blanc de Blancs" or "Demi-Sec". English sparkling wine prestige cuvees

The terms "English" and "English Regional" as applied to sparkling wine are protected terms under the respective PDO and PGI classifications, although not all producers of sparkling wine in England choose to participate in these schemes. The PDO permits six varietals for English sparkling wine (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier,

Pinot Noir Précoce Pinot Noir Précoce or, as it is called in parts of Germany, Frühburgunder is a dark, blue-black–skinned, variety of grape used for wine and is a form or mutation of Pinot noir, which differs essentially by ripening earlier than normal (t ...

Pinot Blanc Pinot blanc () or Pinot bianco is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane wh ...

and

Pinot Gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

) whereas the PGI is much more flexible, with around 90 permitted varietals. The majority of wine produced in England is now sparkling: in 2023 sparkling wine accounted for 76% of wine produced in England and Wales, or 6.2 million bottles, and the three Champagne varieties account for 68% of grape varieties planted. There are over 100 wineries in England producing sparkling wines with Nyetimber, Ridgeview, Gusbourne, Chapel Down and Bolney Wine Estate being some of the largest producers.

History

Early contributions to sparkling wine production in England include scientist

Christopher Merret Christopher Merret FRSFRCP(16 February 1614/1615 – 19 August 1695), also spelt Merrett, was an English physician and scientist. He was the first to document the deliberate addition of sugar for the production of sparkling wine Sparkli ...

who presented a paper on the subject of secondary fermentation in the bottle at the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1662. Also of note in the 17th century was the development of strengthened

wine bottle A wine bottle is a bottle, generally a glass bottle, that is used for holding wine. Some wines are fermentation (wine), fermented in the bottle while others are bottled only after fermentation. Recently the bottle has become a standard unit of ...

s by

Kenelm Digby Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Thomas White (scholar), Blackloist. For ...

, which enabled the pressures exerted by bottle fermentation to be withstood. However, England did not develop any significant commercial production of sparkling wines until the late 20th century. From the 1950s a revival in English viticulture began, with the focus mainly on still wines from German grape varieties such as

Müller-Thurgau Müller-Thurgau () is a white grape variety (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Made ...

and

Reichensteiner Reichensteiner is a white wine grape that is mainly grown in Germany ( ''(2008 fig.)''), England ( ''(2010 fig.)''),Schönburger Schönburger, also spelled Schoenburger, or Schonburger is a variety of grape, formally designated Geisenheim 15–114, a crossing developed at Geisenheim Institute for Grape Breeding in Germany, and released in 1979, of Pinot noir x (Chasselas ...

, not the classic Champagne varieties. In 1988 Stuart and Sandy Moss planted a vineyard at Nyetimber, near

Pulborough Pulborough is a village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south A29 ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, consisting of the three Champagne grape varieties, with the intention of producing traditional method sparkling wine. The first wine from Nyetimber was released in 1997, and won an IWSC Gold Medal. In the 1990s more English sparkling wine producers were established, such as Ridgeview, as well as existing still wine producers in England branching out into sparkling production, such as Chapel Down. The profile of English sparkling wines were raised during this period by a combination of awards from competitions like the IWSC as well as being served at events such as the Queen's golden wedding anniversary and banquets for the visits of the Emperor of Japan and the President of China. In 2017, the French Champagne house Taittinger planted its first vines near a village in Kent, for a new venture into English sparkling wine. The first bottle will be ready in 2023.

Regions

South East

The majority of sparkling wine production in England is in the South East, with over 75% of the area under vine in this region. The top five counties in terms of area under vine in England (

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

) all fall within this area.

Sussex

Sussex (covering the counties of East and West Sussex) has its own PDO for both still and sparkling wine, the first region within England to have a distinct classification scheme. This differs slightly from the requirements for the English sparkling wine PDO, for example permitting two additional varietals ( Arbanne and

Petit Meslier Meslier Petit is a rare white wine grape that is a minor component of some Champagne blends. It is valued for its ability to retain acidity even in hot vintages. In the very rare cases where it is not blended, it makes crisp wines tasting of app ...

) to be used. In addition to the presence of some of the largest and most well known English sparkling wine producers like Nyetimber and Ridgeview, the prominence of Sussex as a wine-producing region is further emphasised for being the location of

Plumpton College Plumpton College is a Further and Higher education college in Plumpton, East Sussex, England, with courses in a variety of land based and related subjects. The college provides a range of full-time and part-time land-based courses, FE courses to ...

, which specializes in viticulture and winemaking courses.

Kent

Kent has the largest area under vine of any county in England, with Chapel Down and Gusbourne Estate being its largest producers.

Hampshire

Hampshire is home to Hambledon, England's oldest commercial vineyard, dating back to the 1950s revival of English viticulture. Although they began producing still wines, today they produce solely sparkling wines. The vineyard was recently named the UK's best vineyard to visit on Magnet kitchen'
Vindex

Surrey

Surrey is home to Denbies—which up until 2018 was the UK's largest single vineyard—however this will likely soon be superseded by Chapel Down. Denbies produce primarily still wines, but some of their output is sparkling.

South West

The

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

is the second largest region of England for wine production in terms of area under vine, with 11% of the Great Britain total (note that the WineGB definition for the South West region includes

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

). Camel Valley and Knightor are the two largest producers in Cornwall, with the former notable as being the first English wine to receive a Royal warrant.

East Anglia

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

contains 5% of Great Britain's vineyards by area, with Essex being the county with the 6th largest area of vineyards in Great Britain. New Hall is the largest and one of the oldest vineyards in the region, being established in 1969, and today produces a mix of still and sparkling wine.

References

{{reflist Sparkling wines English wine British wine Food and drink industry in England