English sparkling wine is no longer a small player in the global market where champagne, prosecco and cava are dominant. Today, England exports its wine to 27 countries including France, Italy, Japan and Taiwan.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that sparkling wine, which makes up 70% of the country’s wine exports, has increased by a third since 2015.
The market is now worth a reported £100m per year and, thanks to warmer temperatures and good conditions for agricultural work, home-produced wine is growing in quality and popularity.
There are now more than 500 commercial vineyards in the UK comprising 133 wineries spread over approximately 5000 acres of land and more than five million bottles of wine, sparkling and still, were produced in the UK in 2015.
2016 saw some of the first English wine shipped to the USA and so producers are now investing in improving and increasing land under vine. With both Marks & Spencer and Waitrose both reporting booming sales of English wines, 2017 looks set to be a positive year for a growing local industry that has the potential to create economic activity.