English Wine Week 21st - 29th June! A Celebration of our local growers and producers!
English wine has been produced since Roman times — and with over 1,000 commercial vineyards now active, a 187% sales increase in five years, and sparkling wines drawing comparisons with Champagne, England's moment has truly arrived.
A History Stretching Back to Rome
Wine has been made in England for far longer than most people realise. The earliest evidence of vines being brought to England dates to Julius Caesar's time — though whether those vines were planted for wine production or simply to make Roman settlers feel at home remains a matter of debate. What is beyond question is that by the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, there were 46 productive vineyards recorded in the south of England. By the time Henry VIII ascended the throne, that number had risen to 139 — most of them monastic, producing wine for religious purposes.
The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII brought the first significant decline in English winemaking, and the industry remained quiet for several centuries. But even through this dormant period, science was quietly advancing: botanists and agricultural researchers in the 20th century were identifying the varieties and sites best suited to England's climate. Their work laid the foundations for what would come next.
The Modern Revival
English commercial wine production effectively relaunched in 1955, and the decades that followed brought a steady expansion in both knowledge and ambition. The discovery that chalk soils — the same geology that underlies the Champagne region in northern France — produce outstanding sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier was transformative. The cool English climate, which creates challenges for producing ripe still red wines, is actually ideal for sparkling wine: the high natural acidity and slow ripening that result from cool temperatures are precisely what gives fine sparkling wine its backbone and longevity.
Today, English wine is one of the fastest-growing categories in the country. Sales grew by 187% between 2018 and 2023. There are now over 1,030 commercial vineyards producing wine in England and Wales — from large, celebrated estates in Kent and Sussex to small family producers in Somerset, Dorset, and beyond.
Why Local Matters
When visiting European wine regions, one of the most heartening things is the pride that local communities take in their own wines. We are fortunate here in Somerset — and more broadly across England — to have producers who bring exactly that same dedication to their land and their craft. Many of our local vineyards are family-run, working smaller plots with an attention to detail that larger commercial producers cannot always match.
Buying English wine is not simply a matter of supporting local industry, though that matters enormously. It is buying wine of genuinely world-class quality — wine that has been shaped by the specific landscape, soils, and climate of our own island. That specificity of place is precisely what great wine is about.