This hot, dry summer has been a case of winners and losers, but, with the lack of spring frost, it brings a rosy outlook for English vineyards after a difficult 2024 season.
At Burn Valley, Norfolk, owner Laura Robinson is expecting an increased yield of 25 tons of grapes from four hectares, up on the usual 20, and increased sugar content. At Wyken Vineyard in Suffolk, Sam Carlisle is more cautious: ‘Hot summers and positive growing seasons aren’t always what they seem in English wine,’ he warns.
‘In our last really hot year, 2022, our earliest-ripening variety, Madeleine Angevine, was attacked by wasps just before picking and we lost 40% of it in 12 hours. And it’s been a tremendous wasp year.’
His comments were echoed in a recent interview on the Country Life Podcast with Beth Pearce MW, head of buying at Flint Wines, who pointed out that while higher temperatures may improve English wines, inconsistent weather from a changing climate is much more of a concern.
'It’s time the Government puts the necessary support into the most on-trend wine region or we risk missing our chance'
WineGB’s annual report, released last month, presents a healthy picture for the industry, with vineyard numbers (across England and Wales) up by 74 to 1,104 and an increase of 25 registered wineries to 238. The area planted has grown by 510% in 20 years to nearly 12,000 acres; Kent is the most planted county, almost double West Sussex; Essex is third in the table. Chardonnay remains the dominant grape (33% of plantings), followed by Pinot Noir (30%), but 99 varieties are now grown.
UK wine production is, as are other sectors, affected by increased National Insurance contributions (it employs about 3,300 full-time workers), plus higher alcohol duty and general cost of living — cellar-door sales were marginally down in 2024, although overall sales were up 3%.
WineGB is calling on the Government to introduce wine tourism relief, plus improved grants for kit, marketing and research and protected classification of British wine. ‘It’s time the Government puts the necessary support into the most on-trend wine region or we risk missing our chance,’ says chief executive Nicola Bates.
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