Brexit gives British wine a sales fizz!
MAKERS TAKE ON FRENCH
GUTSY English winemakers are producing plonk in record numbers – and taking on the French at their own game.
Downing Street, state banquets and even the Oscars are now shunning Champagne and offering English sparkling wine for VIPs to enjoy.
The booming vineyards sprawled across Sussex and Kent could be further boosted by Brexit.
Some growers want Sussex to become “England’s Champagne”, with a protected label.
European wines look likely to be more expensive to import and EU rules capping production will no longer apply to English growers.
The UK’s average temperature has risen by 2C since the ® 1970s, which has improved quality, while the Champagne region has become hotter.
These prime conditions have prompted Champagne houses Tattinger and Pommery to invest in English vineyards. Last Christmas, for every 10 bottles of Champagne sold at Waitrose, one English fizz was snapped up too, which the supermarket’s bosses declared “surpassed all expectations”.
A Wine and Spirits Trade Association spokesman said: “2017 has been a record-breaking year with one million vines planted in the UK.
“Our English vineyards are recognised as tourism hotspots and our wines continue to go from strength to strength.”