Wine from the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a major consumer of wine, although a minor grower and producer. Wine production in the UK has historically been perceived as less than ideal due to the cool climate, but warmer summers and grapes adapted to these conditions have played a role in increasing investment and sale of wines. Most is English sparkling wine, from vineyards across Southern England. Vineyards are becoming common in counties such as Essex, Sussex and Kent, where more varieties of wine can be produced due to the drier and warmer climate.
Geography
Wine from England
There are currently 1030 commercial vineyards across England. All regions of England and Wales have vineyards and many are suitable for growing the grapes used to produce sparkling wine, and, particularly on south-facing slopes, the climate, at least in recent years, is warm enough. At the last official count, the Wine Standards Board reported that there were just over 450 vineyards producing wine throughout England. The largest of these is Chapel Down in Kent, as of mid-2018 when they became the largest winery and vineyard in England.- English wine is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin in the EU and the UK. The term may only be used for wine produced in conformation of the standards and using grapes grown in England at a maximum altitude of 220 m above sea level.
- English regional wine is registered as a Protected Geographical Indication in the EU and the UK. The designation is limited to wine produced from grapes grown in England, although production does not have to be within a certain area. The product must conform to restrictions regarding alcohol content, acidification and sweetening.
- Sussex wine is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin in the UK. It is limited to wine produced from grapes grown in Sussex. The wine should consist mainly of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier grapes, normally produced at 12 tonnes per hectares. The wine is available as a still wine and a sparkling wine.
"English wine" is also a common generic term used in India meaning "Western spirits".
Wine from Wales
Welsh vineyards were first planted by Romans, and, in the 1970s, modern vineyards were planted in South Wales with the intention of creating Welsh wine. Despite a slow start, by 2005, Wales had 20 vineyards, producing 100,000 bottles a year, primarily white wines, but also a few reds. According to the Wine Standards Board, by September 2015, there were 22 operational vineyards in Wales. By 2024, this number had increased to 48.- Welsh wine is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin in the EU and the UK. It is to wine produced in Wales from grapes grown in the designated area, using prescribed methods. Products must use grapes from vines growing at a height of less than above sea level. The product may be vinified outside of the designated area provided it is contiguous to Wales and prior authorisation has been granted from the Food Standards Agency. The product must conform to restrictions regarding alcohol content, acidification and sweetening.
- Welsh regional wine is registered as a Protected Geographical Indication in the EU and the UK. The designation is limited to wine produced with at least 85% of the grapes used being harvested in Wales; production has to be within Wales or a derogated area contiguous with the border with England. The product must conform to restrictions regarding alcohol content, acidification and sweetening.
Scottish wine
In 2016, another attempt at creating a vineyard in Scotland was made by Dr Alan Smith, an honorary research fellow at the University of Durham's Earth Sciences department, who had moved to Aberdeenshire 15 years previously to start a permaculture project. The site used in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire is further north than Moscow and Russian and Ukrainian grape varieties such as Golubok were used and grown in trenches to protect them from north east Scotland's cold climate.
Fruit wine has been produced in Carse of Gowrie in Perthshire since 1987, an area known for fruit growing and where vines may have been growing during the Middle Ages. Since 2001, fruit wine has also been produced on the Orkney island of Lamb Holm.
British wine
The term British wine is used to describe a drink made in Britain by the fermentation of grape juice or concentrate originating from anywhere in the world. It cannot be used for :wine in the legal sense, which must be produced from freshly pressed grapes. The most common style is a medium or sweet high-strength wine that is similar to sherry, and was formerly known as British Sherry.History
Roman era to 19th century
The Romans introduced winemaking to the UK, in a period with a relatively warm climate. Their vineyards were as far north as Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, with others in Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, and probably many other sites. The wines were most likely fruity and sweet, fermented with added honey, and drunk within six months. Winemaking continued at least down to the time of the Normans, with over 40 vineyards in England mentioned in the Domesday Book; much of it was communion wine for the Eucharist.From the Middle Ages, the English market was the main customer of clarets from Bordeaux, France, helped by the Plantagenet kingdom, which included England and large provinces in France. When Henry VIII was crowned in 1509, 139 vineyards were recorded, 11 of which produced wine for the royal household. In the early 16th century, wine was expensive for most commoners, therefore an Act from 1536 decreed that wine imported from France would have a price ceiling, with those imported from Greece and especially Spain with an even higher maximum selling price, most likely due to its better perceived quality.
In the 18th century, the Methuen Treaty of 1703 imposed high duties on French wine. This led to the English becoming a main consumer of sweet fortified wines like sherry, port wine, and Madeira wine from Spain and Portugal. Fortified wine became popular because unlike regular wine, it did not spoil after the long journey from Portugal to England.
Just as English wine began to recover from the epidemics of phylloxera and powdery mildew in the mid-19th century, brought back by the explorers of America, commercial English wine was dealt a heavy blow. In 1860, the government, under Lord Palmerston, supported free trade and drastically cut the tax on imported wines from 1 shilling to twopence, a decrease of 83%. English wine was therefore outcompeted by superior foreign products that could be sold at a lower cost to the customer.
20th century
The twilight of British winemaking tradition was brought to an end with the onset of the First World War, as the need for crops and food, and the rationing of sugar, took priority over wine production. For the first time in 2000 years, English wines were no longer being produced.In 1936, George Ordish planted vines in Wessex and the South of England. With many individuals keen to produce their own wines from home, and with equipment and methods becoming available, the government outlawed the production of homemade alcohol at the beginning of the 1960s, only to retract the law after five years as the homebrew fashion escalated considerably.
Other small commercial vineyards in Britain followed in the 1960s with growers such as Joy and Trevor Bates in Kent, Norman Cowderoy in West Sussex, Nigel Godden in Somerset, Gillian Pearkes in Devon and Philip Tyson-Woodcock in East Sussex. Wales also had George Jones, Lewis Mathias and Margaret Gore-Browne.
Viticulture was revived in the 1970s onwards, possibly helped by a rising local temperature due to global warming, making many parts of Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Berkshire, Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire dry and hot enough to grow grapes of high quality. The first English wines were influenced by the sweet German wines like Liebfraumilch and Hock that were popular in the 1970s, and were blended white and red sweet wines, called "cream wine". The largest vineyard in England was Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey, which has under vines.
From a peak of over 400 vineyards in the late 1980s, by 2000 one third of these had given up, but plantings have since accelerated, helped by the growing success of English sparkling wines. In 2004, a panel judging European sparkling wines awarded most of the top ten positions to English wines – the remaining positions going to French Champagnes. Similar results have encouraged an explosion of sparkling wine plantings. English still wines too have begun to pick up awards at big wine competitions, notably Decanter, and the IWSC.
Winemaking has spread from the South East and South West and also to the Midlands and North of England, with Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire boasting at least one vineyard each as of 2007.
21st century
Significant plantings have been made across the south of the country, with a number of farmers contract growing vines for major English producers. Farmers are looking at the potential benefits of growing vines, as the return per tonne for grapes over more traditional crops is substantial. A field of wheat might yield 3 tonnes per acre at around £120 per tonne. Growing grapes could yield 3 to 4 tonnes per acre at around £950 to £1100 per tonne. One concern is that growers need to invest money for no initial return, as crops tend to come in the third or fourth year. Another concern is that grape production in the climate is highly variable: "In England, it is only in about 2 years in every 10 that grape production will be really good, 4 years will be average and 4 years poor or terrible – largely due to weather and/or disease exacerbated by weather." However, English vineyards share European weather patterns, so 2006 was a bumper year, 2007 saw ripe grapes but low volumes, 2008 was very poor, but both 2009 and 2010 were good years. 2011 was average, 2012 dreadful, and 2013 good. Total British cereal production is not so variable.Another explanation for the growth in viticulture in the UK is the local food movement, and the desire by consumers to cut the amount of food miles connected with the produce that they buy, including locally produced wine.
English wine was given added prestige when the Duchess of Cornwall became the new President of the United Kingdom Vineyards Association on 25 July 2011. In June 2012 there was also a boost for English wine during the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Since Brexit and law change, labelling of geographical origin is no more needed and it is possible to have wine with less than 8.5% of alcohol including wine without alcohol.