6 reasons to love English sparkling wine

1 – Local: If your from the UK, you will be supporting locally grown produce. Although sales are increasing, English sparkling wine accounts for only 0.14% of the market share, so it’s important to continue showing home-grown bubbly some love.

If you’re outside the UK, “English” and “wine” may not seem like the most obvious combination. However, we hope you’ll have a taste of it – you’re missing out otherwise! English winemakers are gaining recognition internationally.

2 – High Quality: The quality of English sparkling is higher than ever. Many winemakers are using the same method used to create Champagne and as they learn how to work English soil (which can be fanastic for sparkling wine) the quality continues to improve. Many English sparkling wines are considered just as good as Champagne.

3 – Award-winning: English winemakers have caught up incredibly quickly in the sparkling wine scene, now winning many international wine awards. In 2015, English wines won a record-breaking 72 medals at IWC, and 14 sparkling wines were awarded gold.

New vineyards are forming and old ones growing as the indsutry rapidly grows to supply demand. The increase in awards means the market expects a boost to England’s vineyards.

4 – Good Value: Buying wine produced in the UK means it’s often better value for your money. Consumers are turning to sparkling wine as a less expensive alternative to Champagne.

5 – Growing Industry: English sparkling wine is no-longer considered second-rate. With the total land coverage of vineyards doubling since 2007, partly due to the warming climate and good soil, vineyards are becoming a more common sight.  The industry produced 6.3million bottles last year, up 42%, and 2015 is expected to reach sales of £100m.

6 – Tastes Great: It tastes amazing! There is a fantastic ‘English’ quality to the wines – delicate, fresh, elegant and beautifully complex.