Panel tasting: English sparkling wines

53 wines tasted

Sparkling wines (and ciders) have been produced in England since at least the early 1660s, as papers read to the Royal Society show – and this some years before Dom Pérignon took up his position as ‘cellarar’ at his abbey in France.

In the modern era, the first producer to successfully use Pinot Noir and Chardonnay was New Hall in 1984, from its dry, sheltered coastal vineyards in Essex. It was Nyetimber who, in 1988, began planting the Champagne trio of varieties solely for the production of bottle-fermented sparkling wines, going on to release its first stunningly good vintage, the 1992, in 1996, to start a revolution that continues to this day.

The driver behind the switch of varieties from German crosses to Chardonnay and Pinots was of course climate change. Before the 1990s, natural alcohol levels at harvest were between 5% and 8%, seldom higher. Since 2000, there has rarely been a year when they have been under 10%. In 2018 – admittedly an amazing year for UK growers – still Chardonnay wines were made with 13.5% alcohol, all natural. The rise in both daytime and night-time temperatures, with many more days above 30°C – a temperature which tips varieties such as Chardonnay and the Pinots from ‘marginal’ to ‘possible’ – has changed completely, and hopefully forever, the spectrum of varieties being grown in the UK.

Global standing

Climate change has also meant a huge increase in quality, occasioned by the use in the UK of international varieties – varieties known and loved all over the world – and the switch from making only still wine, to a point where about three-quarters of production is sparkling. And very good sparkling at that. The ability to blend across varieties and regions, the benefits brought about by sur latte bottle ageing (stored horizontally prior to disgorgement) and the wonders of dosage have transformed what winemakers are able to do to their sparkling wines. Sure, there are drawbacks in making sparkling wines – the lower yields, the extra equipment and, most importantly, the additional capital and time required – but long-term, the wait is worth it, as the world-class quality of so many English sparkling wines shows.

Most growers start out by producing vintage wines, wanting to get some return for their investment in vineyards and stock as quickly as possible, and develop non-vintage blends over time. Regionality in sparkling wines does exist, but it tends to be related to the weather conditions of the year, rather than an intrinsic regional character. About 35% of all grapes grown in the UK are traded, therefore wines from, say, the west of the country, may well contain grapes grown in the east. In addition, almost all of the larger producers obtain grapes from more than one county and often more than one region.