By Christine Bertoli
Who would have imagined that England would become one of the world’s fastest-growing wine regions?
The homegrown market is dominated by vineyards located in England. Wales, meanwhile, has over 30 registered vineyards and produces around 100,000 bottles a year, although this remains a tiny fraction of total production.
This isn’t Britain’s first flirtation with wine. The Romans planted some of the earliest vineyards, with evidence showing viticulture became established from 1st to 3rd centuries CE. Medieval monasteries expanded these plantings during the Medieval Warm Period (roughly 950-1250 CE), when a warmer climate allowed vineyards to flourish and local wines earned genuine respect. The Little Ice Age then brought cooler conditions from the 14th century onwards, while improved trade relations with France made Bordeaux wines easier to import.
After centuries of false starts and climatic setbacks, Britain’s wine story has finally turned a corner. The area under vine has quadrupled since the turn of the 21st century, and there are now around 280 commercial wineries. Not bad for a country where discussing the weather is still considered a national pastime and sunshine remains something of a pleasant surprise.
There are plenty of reasons for this rise. The first isn’t something anyone would normally welcome: climate change. Longer, warmer growing seasons are allowing grapes to reach levels of ripeness that would have been considered optimistic only a generation ago. England remains a cool-climate region, but today’s producers are working with conditions that are increasingly favourable for quality.
Geology has also played its part. The famous chalk soils that run beneath many of southern England’s finest vineyards are part of the same seam that disappears under the English Channel before resurfacing in Champagne. It is hardly surprising that some of Champagne’s biggest names, as well as winemakers from other regions, have crossed the water in search of new opportunities.
Even so, it is worth keeping things in perspective. England is still a relatively nascent wine region, producing less than 0.1% of the world’s wine. Nobody is suggesting Bordeaux should be looking nervously over its shoulder just yet. But English wine has moved beyond novelty status, and the quality has improved dramatically.
That progress has come despite an increasingly difficult economic backdrop. Consumer confidence remains subdued, hospitality has shed thousands of jobs, and producers face rising labour costs and higher alcohol duty that weigh particularly heavily on family-run vineyards. Government support for exports has also been modest, yet producers have carried on investing and planting and, crucially, selling more wine.
Overall sales increased by 3%, while still wines enjoyed an impressive 10% rise, helped by larger harvests. Sparkling wine held steady, which doesn’t sound especially positive until you consider that Champagne shipments to the UK fell by 13% and Cava also suffered double-digit declines. Perhaps the explanation is simply that the wines are getting better. Every year brings another stream of international medals and blind tastings where English bottles leave rather distinguished company looking faintly uncomfortable. Consumers are increasingly choosing English wine for the same reason they buy any good bottle: because it tastes delicious.
The weather may still refuse to cooperate from time to time (some traditions are impossible to shake), but English wine has long since stopped apologising for where it comes from. With bottles now reaching 45 export markets and an international reputation continuing to grow, we shall be hearing more about English wine in the years ahead.
Thorrington Mill – Essex
The late, legendary Peter Hall of Breaky Bottom – Sussex
A Few Things You Might Not Know
-The first commercial vineyard of the modern English wine era was planted at Hambledon, Hampshire, in 1952. It covered just one acre. Every wine region has to start somewhere.
-England and Wales are now home to over 1,100 vineyards, producing around 16.5 million bottles. By comparison, Champagne typically produces 300 million bottles annually.
-English wine represents less than 0.1% of the world’s wine production.
-Chardonnay is now the UK’s most planted grape variety, closely followed by Pinot Noir.
-The three classic Champagne grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) account for around 68% of all vineyard plantings.
-Around 69% of wine production is sparkling, although still wines are quietly gaining ground.
-There are now 99 grape varieties planted across Britain, from hybrids Bacchus and Solaris to tiny experimental plots of Albariño, Gamay and Nebbiolo. British viticulture has become rather more adventurous than many people realise.
-Kent remains the country’s vineyard heavyweight, with West Sussex close behind. Vines can be found as far north as Yorkshire and as far south as the Isle of Wight.
-English and Welsh wines are now exported to 45 international markets, with Norway, Japan, the United States, Sweden and Finland among the leading destinations.
-Exports now represent 9% of total sales, and almost 90% of the wine shipped overseas is sparkling.
[Sales figures are taken from WineGB Industry Report 2025].
Explore our English wine collection here.