I visited some English wineries this year, it felt a little full circle – many (many) years ago when at university, I helped out at an English wine festival. I wish I could remember where exactly – details are buried in my memory and photos in a container somewhere.  

For the fun 

I do remember it being great fun, slightly eccentric and well, all a bit bonkers. Today, English wine is much more successful and sophisticated, but eccentricity and fun continues to run through many of the properties I visited. Fun is something sadly missing in many areas of the wine world. Wine should surely be fun, shouldn’t it? After all, what more joyful way of bringing people together than over a glass of wine?

English Wine is full of fascinating and diverse characters, each with their own story – you know how I love a story. English Wine Week (June 20 to June 28) seems like a good time to share the places, products and people I met. 

Cool climate 

On a couple of cool, sunny March days I set off to Kent and Sussex with an intrepid film crew to capture the current spirit and status of English wine. Then, early June, I travelled to Surrey. I came away stunned and slightly overwhelmed not only by the quality of the wines – delicious and diverse – but the quality of the people behind the projects, a range of talent and backgrounds. So many origin stories, united by a passion to ensure English wines succeed and reach a larger audience. 

On the up 

WineGB and the Food Standards Agency show the warm and dry growing season of 2025 increased production by over 50% on the ‘difficult’ 2024 harvest reaching 124,377 hectolitres across England and Wales, about 16.5 million bottles from around 5000 ha of vines and over 1000 commercial vineyards. That’s a 500% increase since 2005! 

To put it in (a Bordeaux) perspective, that’s about 5% of current Bordeaux production, but Bordeaux is the largest AOC region in France.

Where 

English vineyards stretch across England’s “Wine Garden” of Sussex and Kent to the rich clay soils of the Crouch Valley in Essex and the coastal vineyards of Devon and Cornwall. There are producers in Wales, Herefordshire and even further north in Yorkshire. 

Sparkling wine brought English wine to most people’s attention with brands such as Nyetimber, Chapel Down and Gusbourne and it still represents almost 70% of production. Now, still wines are stepping up in quality and renown. 

Grape Varieties 

Almost a third of vines planted in the UK are Chardonnay, closely followed by Pinot Noir and there are now some exceptional quality still Chardonnay wines. 

Why now? 

The English climate is marginal for viticulture (for the moment as seen in this month’s temperatures), ideal for sparkling wines, giving an elegant acidity and moderate alcohol levels thanks to a long, cool ripening period. Yes, it’s warmer than it was, average potential alcohol levels increased from 9.47% in 2024 to 10.48% in 2025 thanks to higher degree days, but frosts are still a worry – as they are just about everywhere in the Northern hemisphere and certainly in Champagne. Technology is being trialled; I spotted a lot of smudge pots in barns. 

French connection 

It’s clear climate change has a role to play but there’s an English spirit that rises to a challenge –  ‘anything the French can do …. ‘

Champagne remains a benchmark, many vineyards compare their terroir to the best Champagne can offer. They’re not wrong, England’s North and South Downs are on the same Paris Basin chalk plateau as Champagne. The white cliffs of Dover are made of this chalk. The Kimmeridgian Belt reaches from Dorset’s ‘Jurassic  coast’ across northern France and southern Champagne to Chablis, the northernmost part of Burgundy. 

Pommery has planted vineyards in Hampshire, but Taittinger is the highest profile French investment with their vineyard Domaine Evremond opened to the public this March. Partnering with UK importer Hatch Mansfield, they invested around £18 million in over 60 hectares of south-west facing chalk slopes for their Classic Cuvée. 

The Champagne link is not new, Canterbury and Reims were twinned in the 1960s by none other than Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger’s father! 

Christian Seely, CEO of AXA Millésimes, with properties across France, Hungary and Portugal is a partner in Coates and Seely and the much regretted Steven Spurrier famous for the Judgement of Paris, celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, planted vines in Bride Valley on his wife Bella’s sheep farm in Dorset.

The only way is Essex? 

It’s not only Champagne and chalk soils. Essex fruit was on everyone’s lips and Burgundy is reaching across the Channel too. Domaine Duroché announced a joint venture with the Danbury Ridge Vineyard in Essex and Domaine Bernard Moreau is working with Missing Gate Vineyard, also in Essex to produce a new Chardonnay. The Californian Jackson Family Wines recently released its first ‘Essex’ Burgundy and Nick Lane, from New Zealand is making wine at Defined Wine .

From Southern France to Southern England

This year, Charles and Ruth Simpson are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the first harvest in their Kent winery. They have  been producing wines since 2002, but in France, at their 40 ha Domaine de Sainte Rose their Languedoc property. 

They came to this lime-rich, flinty chalk ridge of Elham Valley on the north downs of Kent in 2012, attracted by the new wine culture as well as potential climate change. They created Simpsons Wine Estate with a desire to produce world class sparkling English wines. Mission accomplished – it’s a real class act. Today, with 38 hectares of vines, 60% of their production is still wine, with single-varietal Roman Road Chardonnay as their flagship still wine.  They opened their new winery In 2016, within walking distance of their three vineyards all in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The first 10 ha of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir vines were planted at the Roman Road Vineyard in 2014. Taking its name from the road the Romans marched on in AD,Romans brought the first vines to the UK, so it seems a suitable homage. Another 20 ha were planted on southern slopes of Barham village in 2016 and 17, on  the railway hill vineyard where the Canterbury to Folkestone light railway used to run and then in 2022, they planted 8 ha of Chardonnay clones for still whites at Bonny Bush Hill Vineyard.

The sheltered slopes are protected from unpredictable English weather by surrounding ancient woodlands and proximity to the coast on three sides, which helps regulate variations in temperature. They are in one of the sunniest corners of the British Isles, and we arrived at their North Downs estate in glorious early spring sunshine (and a bone-chilling wind off the Channel). 

Name the place. 

Using only estate-grown grapes for their wines the connection with the terroir – the place, is clear in names like Chalklands White Cliffs (blanc de blancs of course), Flint Fields and Rabbit Hole Pinot Noir. This commitment to place shows in their sustainability programme, minimising their impact on the environment whilst maximising their contribution to environmental conservation and biodiversity. 

Since 2021, they are part of The Sustainable Wines of Great Britain scheme as well as the Walpole Sustainability Manifesto that supports, not only the environment but a circular economy through responsible suppliers and traceability. (In 2022 they were named as two of the “50 Most Influential People in British Luxury” on the Walpole Power List).

This broader view of sustainability includes being part of Wine GB’s working groups on viticulture, winemaking and people. The social and community around wineries was something that came up at many properties.

International team 

There’s an international feel to many winery teams, Simpsons is no exception. Their own story started when they were living in Azerbaijan and Ruth started a distance learning course in Wine Marketing with the University of South Australia. They have an Estate Manager from New Zealand, one assistant winemaker from Australia and another from South Africa.

Putting English wines on the map 

Their wines have been poured on British Airways, the British Pullman train and at many restaurants across the country. As a founding member of The Wine Garden of England collective, of eight pioneering wineries in Kent, they are committed to creating a world-class wine tourism trail across the county

Tastings are hosted in their The Glass House Tasting Room above the vats, with a ‘fruit chute’ helter-skelter slide taking brave guests (not grapes) down into the winery. Tested and approved by yours truly! They work closely with local producers and restaurants to showcase English wines in pairings. 

To celebrate their 10^th anniversary, and the end of English wine week, they are organising a food and wine pairing lunch with local chef Bradley Lomas, co-owner of 17th-century Boys Hall who organises wine dinners and Kentish vineyard tours. They also work with THE PIG, another chain heavily invested in promoting local wines,  at Bridge Place and the Hide and Fox. This deep connection to the local community and partnership with local companies is something we saw in all the vineyards. There’s a deep sense of community across the industry in suppliers and commercial partners willing to put the wines on their lists. 

Westwell – let the fun begin 

Husband and wife teams seem to be a theme. At nearby Westwell Adrian and Galia Pike run an ‘experimental winery’, a short distance from the Pilgrims way to Canterbury; here too they enjoy the chalky and flint soil. They make an impressive range of wines with Adrian now known for his innovations, including red, white, and orange, pet Nat and more. Alongside the three classic varieties they have Regent and Ortega (their signature grape) with which they are determined to create a unique and local signature through low-intervention and wild yeasts.

Artistic licence 

They both come from the music industry, you can tell there’s Creative Juices at work here. Adrian’s interest in wine goes back to travelling through France to an annual music event in Cannes, visiting Champagne, Burgundy and Rhône vineyards along the way, filling up an old 2CV with wine. But it was tasting one of Will Davenport’s wines in a Soho restaurant in 2014 that inspired him to change careers. He began working for Will and hasn’t looked back since. He still considers winemaking magical, ‘you never really know what you’re going to get – I’m loving learning’.

When they relocated to Sussex, Galia, previously a composer, studied at Plumpton College. Galia creates the stunning wine labels with detailed illustrations of vines and the vineyard. They are very invested in the local community, working with local suppliers and sending wine making waste to Pelegrims, for their cosmetics. Locals are constantly onsite, alongside tours, tastings and picnics in the wildflower meadow, there’s a busy programme of events from supper clubs, theatre in the vines, workshops, produce markets and Friday pizza nights, where occasionally Adrian will hit the decks DJing. 

Their unique ‘Sun Dirt Yeast Club’ members vote on and influence the wine that the Club produces for them. Decisions are informed thanks to shared wine theory with members learning about wine making step by step with hands-on events throughout the year to build on wine knowledge and blend their own wine.

Bolney

Further West in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Bolney Wine Estate is a bigger and more sophisticated operation, although it too started as a family vineyard. Planted over 50 years ago, by pioneers Janet and Rodney Pratt, they started with three acres of Muller Thurgau in 1972, only the 6^thcommercial English vineyard. By 1977 they had doubled plantings, introducing other varieties in 1983  including Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, producing their first still red blend in 1998.  In 2002 they planted the south facing  Eighteen Acre Vineyard, now their flagship site and built their first ‘proper’ winery in 2005.  

The winery was built with the visitor experience in mind, one of the first UK vineyards to create a successful tourism model. They have the advantage of being easy to access from London, Brighton and Gatwick and are really set up for visitors. The 18-acre restaurant overlooks the vines from the first floor. A ground floor coffee shop is next to the boutique that sells not only their wide range of wines but local produce and gifts, estate gins, vermouths and negronis.  

In 2022, Bolney became part of Henkell Freixenet, a global leader in the sparkling wine market with a portfolio including Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Prosecco and now an English Sparkling as part of their global portfolio. The strength and support from such a big player within the industry, has had a positive impact on Bolney and English Wine as a whole.

Bolney Wine Estate are very invested in welcoming visitors but not all visitors; Vineyard Manager, Phil Grant showed us their new vineyard replanting project explaining the fencing needed to keep the deer out – their biggest pest after botrytis! They find grapes delicious.

Sugrue South Downs

Dermot Sugrue has been making wine in the UK for over 20 years, putting English sparkling on the map at Nyetimber and Wiston Estate whilst also crafting his own wines on the side. Now, he describes himself as ‘free range again’, making wine with his wife and fellow winemaker Ana at their own Sugrue South Downs in West Sussex.  

Dermot is Irish and a great storyteller – he has a great story to tell. Originally from County Limerick, he studied environmental sciences in East Anglia then viticulture and oenology at Plumpton. After two vintages in Bordeaux, one with fellow Irish family the Bartons in Saint Julien, he made wine for the Catholic priests in nearby Storrington. His first vintage didn’t go well, birds ate all the delicious 2008 grapes. Dermot tried again in 2009, making his first Sugrue South Downs vintage named ‘The Trouble With Dreams’ inspired by the priest’s lament after the first grapes all disappeared.  

In 2013, he took over Mount Harry vineyard releasing his Cuvée Dr Brendan O’Regan – named after ‘one of the most distinguished Irishmen of the 20th century, and my great-uncle – the founding father of Duty Free and creator of the world-famous hotel school at Shannon Airport’ It was served on BA first class, which is a great full circle. He also released the first ZODO (zero dosage) cuvée after 10 years.  

Ana moved to the UK In 2020, joining Plumpton College, as winemaker. After travelling the world from her native Croatia as an independent winemaker. She joined Dermot fulltime in 2021 as sales director and turned Sugrue South Downs into a more ‘grown-up operation’. His words not mine.

They leased Coldharbour vineyard in West Sussex, Dermot knew the vineyard well, he made sparkling wine from this site for Nyetimber. It became Sugrue South Downs’ second “Grand Cru”. They bought Bee Tree Vineyard in 2023, named after an ancient beehive in a nearby tree, – an appropriate symbol of the biodiversity he champions – with fellow investors, Robin Hutson , actor Hugh Bonneville, and now chef Angela Hartnett. 

Famous for his sparkling wines, he has successfully turned his attention to still wines launching “Bonkers Zombie Robot Alien Monsters from the Future Ate My Brain (sur lie).” He’s got a thing for names. It’s a solera reserve wine from 2022 and 2023 launched in 2024. Since 2022, he’s been bringing in Pinot Noir grapes in from Mason’s Point in the Crouch Valley in Essex. 

His philosophy is pure and simple: low sulphites, sustainable, fermentation in old oak barrels, no malolactic, with an emphasis on long ageing rather than immediacy. It’s a boutique production, (100,000 bottles max) concentrating on direct-to-consumer sales.

Destination vineyards. 

He wants to see British vineyards treated as destinations, part of national tourism campaigns. He walks the talk – from the former tractor barn they have developed a cellar door experience, offering guided tours, tutored tastings and masterclasses with local cheese and charcuterie and they encourage people to stay over in local hostelries. They welcome visitors to Sugrue Sundays – a series of alfresco wine lunches with some of the UK’s best chefs. 

Angela Hartnett of course, but also Neil Borthwick, Mitch and Ben Tonks, Henry Harris, Mark Hix, James Ferguson, Luke Holder and Richard Corrigan. It’s a stellar line up and underlies his desire to get UK sommeliers, wine bars and restaurants to pour more homegrown wines alongside French and Italian classics. Hartnett is a brilliant ambassador for English wines in her restaurants, she says she learned from one of the best, Robin Hutson, (The Pig Hotels and Limewood) also an investor in Sugrue ‘ he said, it’s not good being piecemeal about it, if you are going to put English wine on a menu, you want to put 10, 12 bottles on. So that’s what we’ve done.’  

More celebrations

I visited Denbies at the beginning of June as part of their 40th Anniversary celebrations. Here’s an estate that has really embraced bringing people to the wine and wine to the people but on a different scale. They welcome over 425 000 visitors a year. Location helps, they’re 15 minutes’ walk from a station on the line from London Waterloo and the whole operation is turned towards tourism, including a 17-room hotel. It works, 65% of their sales are at the door.

Still a family estate, Denbies was originally a livestock farm converted to vines starting with 30 acres in 1986. The winery followed in 1993, producing their first Surrey Gold, still one of the UK’s bestselling English wines. Today with 260 acres planted, Denbies is England’s largest vineyard, producing 1 million bottles pa of which 70% are still wines. (Chapel Down is almost as big at around 200 ha). The chalk and flint slopes across different elevations and sun exposures offer a diversity of plots reflected in their broad range of products and prices, offering affordable and inclusive wines uniquely from estate grown grapes. 

Christopher White took over as CEO in 2002, buying the estate with his siblings from their father. Their size and expertise allows them to select and blend white label wines for leading retailers as well as their own brands.

It takes a village 

Size also means they are an important local player, employing 180 staff, working  with local suppliers. It’s like a village, with an on-site coffee roaster, a gin distillery, a very popular farm shop and even a SHP wellness centre on site – you know how I feel about wine and wellbeing. All this alongside tours and tastings, four food outlets from a takeaway, a café and a sophisticated restaurant. Denbies are a founding member of the Vineyards of the Surrey Hills created in 2019 including  seven independent vineyards make up the route,

Open access 

Everyone is welcome here, with free parking, EV charging points and cycle parking for people coming to enjoy the eight miles of public paths through the vineyard. A Greenway cycle route runs from here around the county and onto neighbouring national trust land. There’s a Park run every Saturday, and an annual  vineyard Bacchus marathon. 

Outdoor tours from March until November take visitors on a ‘train’ ride through the vineyards with some amazing views of the vineyard slopes and the North Downs. You can even sip on a glass of their Sparkling Wine along the way. Indoor visits, start with a film explaining  the geology and history of the estate and a year in the vines and cellars and always finish with a tasting. The Biodiversity of the estate attracts visitors, with ten acres of the estate dedicated to wildlife and native vegetation with wildflower rows, reduced mowing, cover crops and the 250 sheep released into the vines each winter. A founder member of Sustainable Wines of Great Britain, they are B Corp certified and the first UK vineyard to have Net Zero status to the UK Carbon Code of Conduct (UKCCC) and won the King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development.

Diversity also comes from the patchwork of varieties including Solaris, Ortega, Rondo, Dornfelder, Seyval Blanc, Reichensteiner, Seyval and Muscat alongside the classics, including 35 year-old Chardonnay vines for their single variety premium still wine. It is constantly evolving. They champion PiWi varieties to limit spraying against fungal diseases, and added to blends, they reduce the level of alcohol. Oliver Whitfield, the vineyard manager arrived four years ago, another Plumpton College alumni and is obviously passionate about the diversity and experimentation in the vineyard. It’s important, harvest dates are evolving – they used to harvest on 1st October, last year it was mid-September. Climate change is not all plain sailing – they lost 60% to frost damage earlier this year. 

Andy Kershaw, cellar master here since 2013, is excited about the evolution of these varieties. A trial block of Muscaris was made as a single-varietal in 2023, very aromatic, coming in under 11%. With Solaris he is making a skin contact orange wine. It is now ‘truly wild’ with whole berry, carbonic maceration and natural yeast – appealing to different clientele, it adds to the  range for people coming to the vineyard. The accessible off-dry Surrey Gold remains their biggest seller alongside their sparkling wines. They even offer a late harvest Ortega. 

Wine tourism and locavores 

A sense of place, and community runs through all these properties. A strong connection with other local producers and institutions, through association and joint tourism initiatives and close working relationships with local restaurants.  Most wineries have embraced wineries wine tourism, they have the advantage of being so close to London and the high population of southern England  – there’s a lot of punters on their doorstep and they know how to engage with them. 

Trading up  

There’s enthusiasm from the UK wine trade too, we spent a day in London chatting with professionals who seem really keen to promote and share these wines with punters. People are buying out of curiosity and patriotism but that’s not enough for success. The wines have to be good – and there are some very good wines indeed. They are not cheap, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t great value. The UK wine scene is one of the most dynamic and diverse wine markets of the world – if you can make it here….. 

At a recent tasting for 67 Pall Mall, Richard Bampfield MW explained that it’s easy to put the success of English Sparkling down to climate change but that neglects the increased professionalism, skill and ambition of a host of dynamic owners, growers and winemakers who have driven this revolution.  He believes ‘given the extraordinary progress of the British wine business over just 30 years, there is every reason to be positive about the future. ‘

Exciting and adventurous 

There is a palpable sense of excitement at all the properties we visited, driven by the dynamism of the producers. They’re reaching out to the trade and slowly, the trade is responding with pockets of very enthusiastic ambassadors. To quote Angela Harnett again, ‘what is brilliant is English wine makers can go a bit off message. A lot of the French Champagnes, Italian Proseccos and Cavas in Spain, are following a procedure they’ve been doing for centuries. They can’t deviate, they know what they’re doing. Whereas there’s a freedom of English wine makers, they can surprise people, try something different, play around. And when they get those gems after experimenting that’s when they can compete with the big boys’.

If you haven’t tried English wine yet, this English Wine Week is the perfect moment to venture forth and discover a vineyard. If you can’t get to the vineyard, choose a wine on a wine list and give these pioneers some encouragement. If you need help starting, I recommend Elizabeth Rose English Wines. Director Victoria Bubb aims to remove hard work, they bring wines from producers all over the country together in one place. As Our Sommelier founder Arlene King said to us, ‘It’s always good to start from home.’

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Slightly concerned all this delicious wine might be affecting your liver? Join my healthy passion for wine online with the ‘7 weeks to Liver Friendly Lifestyle programme’ or for the October Wine and Wellbeing retreat in Bordeaux you’ll find the details are here.

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