The sun was blazing down as we wandered through various vineyards in Kent. We then joined several tables of happy souls enjoying a balmy terrace lunch al fresco. Was this the height of summer in the garden of England? Far from it – this was early October, with harvest in full swing all around us.
It was a fitting end to what has been one of the driest, ripest and earliest UK vintages of the modern era. There is palpable excitement in the eyes of producers everywhere as they enthuse about the quality and flavour intensity of the fruit, and the high hopes for their wines this year.
What’s also clear is that English wines are changing before our eyes. As someone who has paid close attention to the evolution of English and Welsh wine over recent decades, I’d go so far as to declare this a new era. It’s the beginning of the third act of a play that began more than half a century ago with still wines and has, in some ways, come full circle. Back in the mid-to-late 20th century, English wine was all about still whites. At the time they were largely made from Germanic varieties, which were suited to our marginal climate. These were light, floral and uncomplicated wines that were rarely tasted beyond the cellar door, and almost never internationally.
Then, from the late 1980s, came the shift to traditional-method sparkling wines. Since the start of the new millennium, these have proved more successful than anyone could have possibly foreseen. We’re talking characterful, stylish, award-winning fizz that has become the UK’s calling card the world over.
But now, with our climate warming even further,
