Released today, some interesting stats on English wine. It’s a success story, for sure.
In 2014, production was the equivalent of 6.3 million 75 cl bottles, which is a 42% increase in volume over 2013 (which itself was a record breaking year). This is a reflection of a good growing season with the added impact of lots of new plantings coming on line.
There is no official breakdown of styles, but the two trade bodies, English Wine Producers (EWP) and United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA), reckon that of this 6.3 million bottles, there were 4 million bottles of sparkling wine produced.
The area under vine has doubled in seven years, and is now just over 2000 hectares. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the most popular varieties. Bacchus, widely used for still wines, is the third most widely planted grape variety.
‘There’s no doubt about it,’ says Julia Trustram Eve of English Wine Producers, ‘England’s future is certainly a bright one.’ She cites a growing acreage, larger volumes to sell to meet demand and international recognition through competition successes as evidence for this. In addition, in 2016 the UK will host the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium. ‘It couldn’t be at a better time,’ says Julia.
2 Comments on English wine, the latest statistics
Congratulation for your tremendous growth in wine production. Hopefully coming soon to the UK to visit your vineyards.
Best regards.
Mickael Loreau
To illustrate the point that English Wine and its relative quality and success is filtering through to the public, at our Manchester Wine Tasting on Saturday one of the questions was ‘Isn’t it true that we are making some of the best sparkling wine in the world?’- I’ll leave it to others to argue the merits of that point but it’s a question that would not even have been asked (outside of the trade) a few years ago