Seven Satisfying Facts About English Wine

In 2016,  Taittinger  announced that they had bought 60 hectares of land in rural Kent in order to produce huge batches of the bubbly stuff, making them the first ever champagne house to invest in English sparkling wine.

It looks like English wine is on the up and to celebrate such a refreshing fact, here are seven satisfying things you might not already know about wine grown and produced on local soil.

So, did you know?

 

1. There are now around 400 commercial vineyards in England, producing over two million bottles of wine a year.

2 Ever the patriot, the Queen is a huge fan of English wine and often plies her international guests with the tipple when they come to visit.

3. Apparently, due to the climate,  English wine is much less likely to make you drunk than other European wines as the grape is softer. It probably depends on how much you drink!

4. As English grapes possess a crisp acidity, they are perfect for producing top sparkling wine – and two-thirds of the wine produced in England is sparkling.

 

 

5. British wine culture actually dates back to 1066, when French monks crossed the channel during the Norman invasion. It began to dwindle around half a century later – but now it’s back and stronger than ever.

6.  English wines have won eight trophies for Best International Sparkling Wine in global competitions in recent years. Pretty impressive stuff.

7. Before wine bottles were invented, Englishmen used to store wine in goatskin bags.

Next time you’re in the supermarket, rather than browsing the aisles for French or Spanish bottles, why not pick up an English sparkling wine instead? It is award-winning after all.

If all this talk of English wine has made you thirsty and you fancy finding out more (or maybe even sampling a few drops), we have a whole host of wine tastings and tours for you to enjoy. Bottoms up! 

Images:Ewan Monroe, Ed Clayton, Mark Morgan and Dennis Jarvis via Flickr.