Could English sparkling wine ever dethrone Champagne? British grapes are overtaking French rivals thanks to warmer climates, with Kent as the prime spot for harvest and sunshine

Oct 12 , 2022

Pickers hard at work at the Nyetimber vineyards. Photo: Nyetimber

Britain has created an unprecedented demand and reputation for its sparkling wine, thanks to longer summers and warmer climates as the world continues to heat up

French wineries are taking note with Hatch Mansfield already in partnership with Champagne Taittinger by planting the house’s first vineyard on English soil

It once would have been seen as a compliment for any English sparkling wine to be compared to its better-known counterparts in Champagne. But in recent years, British grapes have even been beating their French rivals in blind tastings.

“It used to be seen as a cottage industry,” said Brad Greatrix, senior winemaker at Nyetimber, recalling the humble origins of English sparkling wine – which has undergone something of a reputation overhaul in recent years.

The reasons for this, Greatrix explains, are manifold. In a report by Oeno-One, average temperatures throughout the growing season have warmed by one degree Celsius between 1999 and 2018 – bad for the globe, but resulting in improved growing conditions in the traditionally colder nation. Projected temperatures up to 2040 point towards the trend continuing, with benefits for sparkling wine production in particular.

The Nyetimber 1086 Prestige Cuvee Rosé. Photo: Nyetimber

Greatrix ticks off other factors: “Significant investment in planting new vineyards, the installation of new pressing and bottling equipment, and many more people working in the industry who now have specialist knowledge,” he says.

“As the range, quality and scale of the wines on offer increased over [the last decade], so to has consumer awareness, not just in the United Kingdom but overseas as well, especially in growth markets such as Hong Kong and China.”

Established more than 30 years ago, Nyetimber was the first producer of English sparkling wine to exclusively grow the three celebrated grape varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, according to Greatrix. At Nyetimber’s vineyards, south-facing slopes and selective planting ensure “the best possible exposure to the English sunshine – this ensures the grapes gradually achieve the ideal level of ripeness before harvest”.

Ruth Simpson, who co-founded Simpsons’ Wine Estate with husband Charles. Photo: Simpsons’ Wine Estate

The admiring experts come from both home and abroad. Famed champagne house Taittinger is preparing the release of its first vintage of English-grown sparkling wine, to be marketed under the label Domaine Evremond, while British husband and wife duo Charles and Ruth Simpson have returned to England after a decade producing the award-winning Domaine de Saint Rose in Languedoc, France.

“It was a spirit of adventure and a desire to be part of positive change that took us initially to France,” says Ruth, “with an aspiration to help transform the reputation of the Languedoc from a low-quality, high-volume wine producer to a high-quality, low-volume wine producer, a challenge that continues to this day. That same desire to be part of an emerging and evolving area was what also brought us back to the UK.”

Simpsons’ Wine Estate in Kent. Photo: Simpsons’ Wine Estate

“In the 20 years that we have now been at Domaine de Sainte Rose, we have completely redesigned the winery, turning it into a state-of-the-art facility. Our winemaking methods have been carefully chosen to promote the purest expression of the fruit and our terroir with as little intervention as possible,” adds Ruth.