Fans of the tennis aren’t the only ones to have made the most of the glorious sunshine during the past couple of weeks.
With temperatures hitting over 30°C in some parts of the country, the recent summery conditions have also been hugely beneficial to the flourishing English wine industry.
The welcome warmth and sunshine has come at a time when vines planted across the country are going into flower.
This boosts the chances of an excellent crop of domestic grapes during the harvest when it comes later in the year.
An Indian summer, like last year’s, would see the fruit ripen to perfect levels required to make World Class wines.
English wines are firmly in the ascendancy, with 24 medals won at this year’s acclaimed International Wine Challenge, as well as a clutch of other awards.
Sales of the wines are flourishing as their appeal takes hold: in 1999, sales of English wine were worth £10.6m. This had almost doubled last year (2009) to £20m.
Wines from areas such as Kent replicate the taste of champagne, because they use the ‘holy trinity’ of champagne grapes (pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier) in a region with the perfect soil and climate.
The Kent coast is only 80 miles north of Champagne and the geology of the chalk sub-soil and the topography is almost identical.
The industry is also becoming increasingly professional, as experienced winemakers from around the world come to England to work with English wines.
Chapel Down wines, based in Tenterden, have recently recruited New Zealander, Andrew Parley, as their Head Winemaker.
Andrew has worked on wines across the world, including a stint in the renowned Hunter Valley in Marlborough in his home country.
Frazer Thompson, CEO of Chapel Down wines, says:
“Without wishing to tempt Fate, we’re optimistic that this will be another great year for English wines.
“We still have to get through the rest of the summer, so it’s too early to predict for certain how the harvest will turn out, but we’re really very hopeful.
“The consistency of our wines is of paramount importance to us.
“Making great wines year after year is crucial if we’re to build on the excellent reputation that English wines already enjoy.
“We had a good harvest last year, and we’re starting to see the results of that in the wines coming through now.
“Another great harvest will really cement the position of English wines as truly world-class.”
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