Demand for English sparkling wines is fizzing so high that they are set to sell-out this Christmas.
The growing reputation of English wines both at home and internationally means that the industry simply does not have enough supply to meet demand this Christmas.
The English Wine Producers Association estimates that just 112,000 bottles of home grown fizz are left to buy between now and the end of the year. Demand is outstripping supply by around six to one.
According to Mintel Brits have bought twice as many sparkling wines as champagne in the last two years.
And English fizz from vineyards in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Cornwall is flying off the shelves. At supermarket Waitrose, sales have increased by over 90 per cent last year.
Waitrose says that the overall the growth of English sparkling wines is on a par with that of Champagne.
English fizz gets regular listings in the country’s top restaurants. Gordon Ramsay’s and Gary Rhodes’ restaurants stock them, as does The Dorchester. The Queen has also served them at many of her banquets this year.
Julia Trustram Eve from English Wine Producers says: “All of our leading wine makers are finding it a real challenge to keep up with their customer demands.
“And it’s not just Brits that have discovered the delights of English wines – both the Chinese and Japanese can’t get enough of it either. Our wines are also selling well in Scandinavia and the United States too.”
English Wine Producers Association predicts that with further acreage being planted, English sparkling wine production will rise to 3.7 million bottles by 2015.
By then, they will account for two thirds of all English wines – up from around 40 per cent now.
Wines from areas such as Tenterden [in Kent] replicate the taste of champagne because they use the ‘holy trinity’ of champagne grapes (pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier).
The Kent coast is only 80 miles north of Champagne and the chalk sub-soil and south-facing slopes are almost identical.
In May this year Chapel Down, the UK’s largest producer of English wines, also began planting a new vineyard that will produce its first sparkling wine in time to toast the London Olympics in 2012.
Chapel Down currently produces 250,000 bottles of fizz but is planting 100 new acres of vines a year and hopes to be selling 1.5 million bottles by 2015.
Chief executive Frazer Thompson expects an industry-wide sell-out of fizz this year.
He says: “There won’t be any English sparkling wine left by the time Christmas comes around. We already have had to turn business away.
“By choosing home-grown sparkling wines people are buying into an exclusive and exciting taste, whilst supporting an ever growing local industry.”
Such is the interest in English wines that Waitrose has announced plans to be the first UK retailer to plant vines on its own 4,000 acre farm in England, The Leckford Estate.
Dee Blackstock, Waitrose Master of Wine, says: “Existing producers are extending their vineyard areas dramatically and there are numerous new vineyards being planted.
“It won’t be too long, another two or three years perhaps - before we could move from scarcity to a glut of sparkling English wines.”
3 ENGLISH SPARKLING WINES TO TRY
Waitrose: Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut - an award-winning sparkling wine with hawthorn, citrus and blackcurrant flavours, RRP £16.99
Marks & Spencer: English Sparkling Rosé - a delicious sparkling rosé with aromas of honeysuckle and wild summer berries, RRP16.99
Sainsbury’s: Taste the Difference English Sparkling Rosé – a fresh, strawberry scented off-dry sparkling pink, RRP £17.99
