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18 October 2013

British Wines

Roughly 10 years ago at the turn of the century, you could have looked on at England’s winery efforts and raised an eyebrow in concern.

They were typically not respected with enthusiasts and paled in comparison to their international siblings; drawing quite the chagrin from producers. Now though, it seems as if English wine is having its purple patch throughout the wine community.

It’s often cited as being down to foreign experts who decided to implement vineyards all over the sprawling countryside, noticing the capacity for excellent growing standards. Their previous nous has led to them cultivating some of the best produce this country has ever seen with note to the Gusborne Estate in Kent that was started by a South African entrepreneur. The enterprise has recently been sold on for a whopping £7million.

This success has made wineries sit up and take notice. In particular, the much adored Nyetimber company who are situated in West Sussex. Special mention has to go to their 2009 bottles that are now in their full flourish after careful and studious mulling. 5-star restaurants are expected to hoover up all 2,500 bottles of this much-anticipated range and will fetch quite the price for the elite.

This is a far cry from the somewhat experimental phase of producing during the past decade. Professionalism was seldom found with many people commenting that attempts were “hobbyist” meaning that they were often unsuitable for connoisseurs down to their peculiar Germanic orientations. This decade round, it seems like England is making some wines to be seriously excited about.

Of course, there are always some obstructions when you grow anything in a country with such tempestuous weather. 2012 saw a lot of wineries struggling to release quality batches and some refused to send out sub-standard fare resulting in losses. Already a negative for most industries, global warming will also almost certainly impact the wine business in England negatively.

For the time being though and whilst the next batch of premium English fizz is crafted, the country can enjoy a renowned and lucrative output of fine drinking.