Gove: climate lets English wine take on champagne

Minister toasts a growing sparkling wine industry which threatens to burst traditional French bubble

ENGLISH sparkling wine is giving champagne a run for its money because of climate change, the Environment Secretary has claimed.

Michael Gove said that some British vineyards were now being rated higher than French wineries and the warming climate could see the industry boom.

Speaking at the BBC’S Countryfile Live event at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, he said that Britain’s heatwave summer could become “the new normal” in years to come.

He admitted soaring temperatures brought challenges for farmers, but said the new climate also offered opportunities for grape growers who were seeing “bumper” harvests.

“I was in East Sussex the weekend before last, talking to someone there who bought a farm, who has converted it into a highly successful business pro- ducing English sparkling wine,” he said. “It’s been assessed independently as of higher quality and better tasting than the finest champagne vineyards.

“One of the opportunities of a changing climate is the chalky soil of parts of England, combined with the weather that we are having, means that English sparkling wine will have a bumper harvest. It will soon bring a level of cheer to British drinkers greater than that provided by French champagne. It is a harbinger of the inventiveness, of the creativeness and the resilience, the imagination and the sheer joie de vivre that you can find here in Britain.”

England’s chalk soils have always been ideal for bubbly but the warming climate means that grapes are growing better than ever, and established French wine makers such as Taittinger have started planting vines across huge swathes of the British countryside.

In the past 12 months, UK wine producers planted a record one million vines, increasing production by two million more bottles of wine annually.

A study commissioned by Laithwaite’s Wine showed climate change could create opportunities for viticulturists as far north as Edinburgh. It also forecast England could be one of the world’s leading producers by 2100. This year’s Sommelier Wine Awards saw English sparkling wine receive more gold medals than champagne. English fizz won seven, champagne brands received just six.

AFTER the success of “wonky” fruit and vegetables, supermarkets are now starting to sell flowers that appear misshapen because the heatwave has affected their growth.

Wonky flowers may have shorter or slightly more twisted stalks than the blooms that customers are used to buying, but they are being offered at a fraction of the price to reflect their imperfect appearance.

Previously, flowers that did not meet strict size and shape standards would have resulted in them going to waste. However, new wonky ranges will help flower growers because shops will buy more of their crop. For example, Morrisons is now selling bunches of wonky sunflowers for £3 instead of £5.

In addition, experts said that other in-season flowers including roses, gladioli, sea lavender and snapdragons would have grown wonky as a result of the recent heat, meaning wonky versions may soon be available in shops.

Tracy Tomlinson, of the British Florist Association, said: “These flowers have grown wonkier than usual because of a lack of water, which makes the stems swell up

“The wonky stems might make them trickier for amateurs to arrange but they’ll still look lovely in the home,” she said.

“And anyone using trained florists needn’t worry about flowers being wonky as they know how to arrange any type of flower.”

In future, Morrisons said flowers will be sold as wonky if they fail to develop properly. They may have shorter stems or they might have wonky stems or smaller flower heads.

Drew Kirk, the category director for flowers at Morrisons, said: “It would be a shame to see these beautiful stems go to waste just because they’re a few centimetres too short.

“Our wonky range helps growers and farmers reduce waste and at the same time helps customers to afford to buy flowers more often.”

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose also have cheaper, wonky vegetable lines that have proved popular with budget-conscious shoppers.