English sparkling wine!

England - long-time consumer of the finest wines in the world. And since recently producer of astonishing wines. Join me on a wine tasting of English wine!

Today’s blog is about an important topic - English sparkling wine ! Sometimes referred to as the “Newest Old Wine Region”, England is widely regarded as the most promising up-and-coming wine-producing country. Raising temperatures across Europe due to climate change affect positively the ripping of grapes in traditionally cold climates such as England, which results in grapes with high acidity and a lot of sugar.

Despite the favourable wine-making conditions, England remains a relatively small wine producer. On average, England makes around 10M bottles annually compared with Champagne’s 300M and Bordeaux’s over 700M bottles per year. Two-thirds of the wine produced in England is sparkling. Unlike Champagne, England specialises in producing vintage wines(Champagne makes a lot of non-vintage bottles) with pair years such as 2010, 2014,2018 and 2020 considered to be best vintages.

We had the pleasure of tasting Balfour Hush Heath Blanc de Blanc from 2018. The wine had a hint of honey and lime on the nose. Some English sparkling wines I’ve tasted have had an overwhelming acidity, but not this one. Acidity was sharp as you can expect from any wine from cool climate, but not in a repelling way. Another standout was the Danbury Ridge Wine Estate Chardonnay from 2020 which had expressive long palette and lingering citrus notes. Although we didn’t have the opportunity to try it with food, I imagine it would pair perfectly with cheese.

And if you are not convinced to give English sparkling wine a try and want to stick to Champagne - stay tuned. The next edition of the WinExplorer will be for you!