The unstoppable rise of English sparkling wine Pop CULTURE

You may be surprised to learn that winemaking in England isn’t a new phenomenon. Although there’s been a meteoric rise over the past few years — especially for sparkling wines — the practice dates back to Roman times.

And while you may immediately think of Champagne when you hear the words “sparkling wine,” the first documented evidence was, in fact, written by Englishman Christopher Merrett, who presented a paper to the Royal Society in London in 1662 outlining the process of making traditional-method sparkling wine. This was a fair few years before Dom Pérignon, the French monk, started his experiments at the Benedictine HautvillersAbbey.

The industry has come a long way over the past few hundred years. There are now nearly 900 vineyards in the U.K. and almost 200 wineries, ranging from incredibly small patches of land with just six vines to larger estates of around 100 hectares. The classic Champagne grapes — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier — account for the top three varieties planted, with 8.95 million bottles produced in 2021.

Sparkling is by far the most popular style of wine made in the U.K., making up 68% of total production, and while much of the wine produced in the U.K. is consumed there, 4% of sales in 2021 were for export markets, with the lion’s share going to Scandinavia, the U.S., and Japan. It seems other countries are finally getting a taste for the quality fizz being produced in England.

Although Champagne may still have the most prominent reputation, English sparkling wine is catching up, and in some cases overtaking its French rivals. A few years ago, several English sparkling wines were rated more highly in a blind taste test conducted by London-based food and wine publication Noble Rot.

It wasn’t the only time English fizz came out on top, with another blind tasting in 2020 rating wines from Westwell, Nyetimber, and Hambledon in the top three spots against Champagnes. The tasting was led by wine expert Neil Walker, along with sensory scientist Dr. Heber Rodrigues of Plumpton College and Professor Nicolas Depetris Chauvin from the Geneva School of Business.

by Rachael Hogg

The market shows no sign of slowing down. Quite the opposite, in fact. In September 2022, Gusbourne Estate released Fifty One Degrees North, the most expensive sparkling wine ever produced in the U.K. It highlights the ambition of the country’s producers and the potential future for further prestige wines down the line. The 2014 vintage wine costs $235, with just 2,000 bottles produced. It’s made from 64% Chardonnay and 36% Pinot Noir grapes, with 10% of the base wine fermented in oak. Bottled in April 2015, it stayed on its lees until December 2021, and was then disgorged with an 8g/l dosage.

Gusbourne’s Fifty One Degrees North isn’t the only ultra-premium English sparkling to be produced. Chapel Down released Kit’s Coty Coeur de Cuvée 2013, which was the first to retail at £100 ($120), and Nyetimber released its 1086 prestige cuvées in both white and rosé, which cost $180 and $210.

It will be fascinating to see how the English sparkling wine industry develops over the coming years and decades. If you’re looking to expand your sparkling horizons and try something different from your usual glass of Champagne, here are five fabulous English sparkling wines we recommend.