Climate change offers sparkling prospects to UK winemakers
NEWALRESFORD,UK: With climate change pushing up temperatures, English winemakers are rubbing their hands as their sparkling wines start to give top champagnes a run for their money.
Strolling through the Pinglestone vineyard in Hampshire, southern England, under a pale autumn sun, winemaker James Bowerman is smiling broadly.
“The (Pinot) Meunier really enjoyed itself this year,” the vineyard manager says, surveying the vines.
This year’s temperature levels have taken VrankenPommery, the prominent French champagne house that bought the estate in 2014, by surprise.
“We had to water the vines in June, which is pretty incredible. Given the reputation of the English climate, we were not expecting that,” said Clement Pierlot, director of vineyards and champagne cellars at Pommery.
Intrigued by the rapid growth of vineyards in England, Vranken-Pommery jumped into the market after falling in love with the chalk hills of Hampshire.
Fifteen hectares (37 acres) of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the three primary champagne grape varieties, were planted here last year. A further 25 hectares will be added over the next two years.
While waiting to harvest the first crop of grapes, Vranken-Pommery produced a first sparkling wine with grapes brought in from elsewhere on this side of the Channel.
Dubbed Louis Pommery England, the test was deemed a success. “We can have wines which are fine and expressive but with a nice style and freshness,” Pierlot said.
English sparkling wine will “soon bring a level of cheer to British drinkers greater than that provided by French champagne,” said Environment Secretary Michael Gove, talking up the “opportunities of a changing climate”.
While English vintners have made sparkling wines for decades, the number of hectares given over to their production has soared 150 percent in the last 10 years, tripling since 2000.
At some four million bottles, sparkling wine represented 68 percent of wines produced in Britain last year - a share that is set to increase in the coming years.
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier account for 71.2 percent of the grape varieties planted.
“We have gone from a small cottage industry to a real, proper and thriving industry,” said Cherie Spriggs, who is the head winemaker at Nyetimber, whose first vines were planted in 1988, also in southeast England.