United Kingdom

It is important not to confuse English wine with British wine. By law, English wine has to be both grown and made in England (similarly, "Welsh" in Wales). By contrast, "British" wine is NOT made from grapes grown in England (or Wales) but is made from imported wine concentrate. This has led to much confusion over the years, and many people who have tried and failed to enjoy English wine, were actually tasting the far inferior British wine.

Location
The southern half of England and Wales - mainly in Kent, Suffolk and Sussex.

Grapes

Red: Pinot Noir, Merlot and Pinot Meunier
White: Huxelrebe, Madeleine Angevine, Muller-Thurgau, Reichensteiner, Schonburger and Seyval Blanc

There are over 300 commercial vineyards in England and Wales, covering nearly 2,000 acres of land in total. Nearly all located in the southern half of England and Wales, with most of them in Kent, Suffolk and Sussex. The majority of them are small; on average about 5 acres. In 2003 they produced nearly 2 million bottles of wine.

About 80% of these wines are white and vary from dry to off-dry; the most successful falling into two categories. The first group are light, dry, rather neutral wines with the capacity to age; Seyval Blanc is a useful grape for this style. The second include the scented, green and tangy ones. Some are heavily aromatic, with perfumes of pot pourri or elderflower. Recurring successes in blind tastings against wines from around the world have shown that when given a fair trial, English wines can be as good as the best from anywhere else.

The Merret Method of 1662 ...
Recent research indicates that sparkling wine was actually conceived in Britain, NOT France ... In 1662, Christopher Merret presented a paper to the Royal Society detailing how to make sparkling wine, and describing how this wine was being drunk and enjoyed in London. Bear in mind that this was more than 30 years before the French first made sparkling wine, and almost 70 years before the first Champagne House was established.

The sparkling wines produced on the chalk soils of Kent and Sussex, can rival Champagne in finesse. The cool, dismal climate lends itself to producing sharp, high acid base wines - ideal for Champagne production. Two Sussex-based producers, Nyetimber and Ridgeview, make Champagne-style sparkling wines that can surpass the real thing.

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