Winemakers to watch

Big fizz players

In size and sales, Chapel Down (chapeldown.com),

Nyetimber (nyetimber.com), Denbies (denbies.co.uk) and Rathfinny (rathfinnyestate.com) operate on a different level. Their world-class sparkling wines put Britain on the map.

Plonk pioneers

There are older UK wineries. Essex’s New Hall, famous for its work with the bacchus grape, dates to 1969 (newhallwines.com). But in wowing chefs such as Rick Stein, Cornwall’s Camel Valley, established in 1989, was pivotal in getting foodies to take UK wine seriously (camelvalley.com).

New traditionalists

In the past decade, vineyards such as Sedlescombe Organic (sedlescombeorganic.com) and Albury Organic Vineyard (alburyvineyard.com), helped establish a thriving UK culture of organic, biodynamic and natural wine-making. While those terms are not interchangeable, they collectively underpin the ethos of a low-intervention British wine-making scene whose stars now include Tillingham (tillingham.com),

Davenport (davenportvineyards.co.uk) and Ancre Hill (ancrehillestates.co.uk).

Grape Britain

From Enfield’s 10-acre Forty Hall Vineyard

(fortyhallvineyard.com) to North Yorkshire’s Ryedale Vineyards (ryedalevineyards.co.uk), “the most northerly commercial vineyard in Britain”, UK wine is made in some surprising places. The 31 Welsh vineyards include White Castle (whitecastlevineyard.com), whose pinot noir reserve 2018 took gold at July’s Decanter World Wine Awards.

Urban wineries

Nimble makers buy in grapes to maximise their creative freedom. Examples include London’s Blackbook (blackbookwinery.com) and Renegade

(renegadelondonwine.com), and Dorking’s Litmus (litmusenglishwine.co.uk), which rate among Britain’s most exciting winemakers. From mighty Chapel Down, supplier to 10 Downing Street and managing 950 acres, to dedicated minnows such as St Martin’s on the Isles of Scilly, whose vines occupy just two and a half acres, the UK wine scene is dynamic and incredibly diverse. Here are some notable names to check.