It’s a little known fact amongst many consumers that there is pretty impressive sparkling wine being made in the United Kingdom - actually, England and Wales to be more precise.

When you think of the UK and what it is known for, things like Harry Potter, tea parties, Wimbledon and the Royal Family probably instantly spring to mind. We’re pretty sure that wine doesn’t make that list!

And that’s reasonable, given that the British wine industry is actually quite young relatively speaking. It is also quite a bit smaller than many major wine producing countries, when considering total production levels. As a result, very little wine from the UK actually makes it out of the kingdom and onto export markets when considered in the context of the greater whole of the global wine industry.

But, we’re going to let you in on a little secret. Wines produced in the UK, especially sparkling wines, are creating quite a buzz and attracting a following amongst those ‘in the know’.

Why? Because the soils of the region are very similar to those found in Champagne. The days of the growing season are very long, which favours excellent flavour development, and yet the nights are cool which helps to retain acidity. As a result, you can get wines with racy sharp acidity here relatively easily and relatively consistently. And acidity is the name of the game when it comes to sparkling wines. Acidity is truly the most favoured element of this wine style. When it comes to Champagne, or even other sparkling wines such as Cava, Franciacorta and/or Crémant, these areas are being much more influenced by climate change, rising temperatures and unpredictable weather events which are really impacting the traditional style that places like Champagne are renowned for. Champagne has particularly been hit in the recent past - as temperatures soar, and unpredictable events such as hail/frost/rainstorms become more of a regular occurrence, acidity is proving to be a growing challenge for the region.

Hallmarks of english sparkling wines include crisp, racy acidity and use of the traditional method (the same method that is used in Champagne) with long periods of lees aging which imparts ample biscuity notes.

Bottle of Langham sparkling wine with two wine glasses filled with golden sparkling wine — A bottle of English sparkling wine (producer: Langham estates from Dorset)

On the down side, production volumes are relatively low and input costs for producers are relatively high. As a result, high quality english wines tend to come at a higher price tag, which could prove to be a challenge to long-term breakaway success for this category. Having said that, the region has attracted the attention of major producers from Champagne such as Tattinger and Vraken-Pommery…and such names do not make big investments for no reason! Export markets now account for approximately 10% of all sales and are predicted to grow further. Interestingly, overall production volumes keep growing at a considerable clip too.

So the big takeaway here is that if you love wine, and more importantly, love to explore new and interesting wines, then be sure to add British wines to your radar. You should be able to find a few examples in your market if you go looking. Here are some well-known names that you can watch out for:

Domaine Evremond

Louis Pommery (UK)
Nyetimber
Chapel Down

And remember, it’s not only about sparkling wines when it comes to the UK. There are good still wines (in fact, 1/3 of all production is still wines), some using very interesting grape varieties (there are almost 100 different varieties cultivated), also being made in the UK. If you can get your hands on the still wines of the UK, definitely consider them worth a try too!

To close, let’s consider some key statistics about UK wines at the time of writing, courtesy of the trade body, Wines GB:

no. of wine regions: 7
no. of registered geographical indications: 6
no. of vineyards: 1000+
no. of wineries: approx. 240
hectares under vine: approx. 5000
most planted grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
key grape-growing counties: Kent, West Sussex, East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Devon, Suffolk
no. of bottles produced in 2025: 16.5 million
sparkling/still ratio: 70%/30%

‍If you are interested in learning more about the UK wine industry, be sure to check out this website: Wines GB ‍

Here’s to enjoying good wine and continuing to find new and exciting sources for this liquid pleasure!

Cheers, Friends!