Discover the surprising world of Welsh wines: Seven bottles you need to taste

Mid-August, and I’m taking notes in a vineyard, sheltering from the baking-hot sun under a tree. The grapes are hanging in large, even bunches and seem ripe for the time of year; harvest will definitely be early.

Am I in the Languedoc, perhaps, or Portugal, or southern Spain? No. I’m on a press trip around the vineyards of southern Wales.

Seven Welsh wines to discover listed below

The unexpected region for wine

It isn’t always like this in high summer here, of course. Last year, ‘we didn’t see the sun,’ says Paul Rolt of Gwinllan Hebron Vineyard, far-flung out in south-west Wales, while Robb Merchant of White Castle, near Abergavenny, agrees that 2024 was ‘very poor,’ but concedes after many years growing Welsh grapes that ‘you know you’re going to have some natural disasters.’

All is sunny and bright in every sense this year, though. Wales is not exactly the best-known wine region on the planet, so here are some facts: there are 56 registered commercial vineyards in Wales, covering nearly 95 hectares of land under vine (Source: WineGB).

Much Welsh wine is actually made over the border in England, mainly at Halfpenny Green in Staffordshire and Three Choirs in Gloucestershire, although there are three registered wineries in Wales, including Mountain People Wine, led by David Morris, who makes low-intervention wine under contract.

And watch the Welsh winery numbers increase gradually: White Castle has now started making its own after years working with Three Choirs.

Finding the sweet spots

The vineyards are concentrated around the edges and borders of the country, mostly in the south-east, though there are some in the south-west, the mid-Welsh borders, and (more surprisingly) in the north, too.

Owners explain how their vineyards are sheltered from poor weather by hills and mountains – the strong message is you can’t grow decent grapes just anywhere in Wales.

‘We’re surrounded by hills,’ says Ancre Hill Estates owner Richard Morris, who farms grapes biodynamically near Monmouth. ‘We’re located in a natural bowl,’ adds Merchant.

Lucy and Dan Alford, of The Dell Vineyard, planted vines in 2022 on south-facing sites on Dan’s family farm, some of which lie along the A40.

The Brecon Beacons form a backdrop, and they tell me the ‘maritime weather gets dumped on the Black Mountains,’ so they feel relatively well sheltered.

The grapes and styles that shine

They, like many, are fans of Solaris, the early-ripening, hardy white grape created in Germany in the 1970s. It is certainly producing plenty of juicily fruity, easy-drinking, well-balanced still wines in Wales.

More sophisticated are the traditional method sparklers, the best of which give English wineries a run for their money.

Velfrey Vineyard in Pembrokeshire makes crisp, pristine, focused fizz mainly from Seyval Blanc, as does White Castle, while White Castle crafts an equally elegant, delicate sparkling rosé from Cabernet Franc.

The Morris family’s Ancre Hill Estates, long established near Monmouth, farms biodynamically with South African winemaker Jean du Plessis in situ.

They are turning out energetic, complex, long lees-aged blanc de blancs from Chardonnay and blanc de noirs from Pinot Noir, as well as more unusual fizz in the form of pink and red pét-nats (the latter using 40% Triomphe with Pinot and Chardonnay)..

Alive with innovation

Indeed, you could be forgiven for assuming Welsh wine producers want to play it safe, given the variable climate, but the opposite is true.

Wales is now alive with vinous experiments, from training vines up living willow boughs at Gwinllan Hebron Vineyard to using tisane treatments (organic herbal sprays) such as willow and nettle, favoured by several producers, to plantings of Souvignier Gris, Cabernet Noir and Albariño, and dives into white and red pét-nat and Col Fondo-style fizz, like those at Whinyard Rocks in Radnor.

Reds get more than a look-in, too. White Castle grows 60% red grapes, albeit some for sparkling, and took the top still red at the Welsh Wine Awards 2024 with a youthful Regent, while its Reserve Pinot Noir 2018 received a Gold Medal at Decanter World Wine Awards in 2021.

Ancre Hill’s still Pinot Noir 2021 – just bottled – has violets and red cherries with a distinctive savoury note, and I love The Dell’s juicy and vivacious Y Gwyllgi (named after the mythical ‘black hound’ in Welsh) Pinot Noir 2024.

Look out next year for the release of the first traditional method sparkling wine from Liz and Peter Loch’s St Hilary Vineyard near Cowbridge, which was planted in 2021 and has already yielded a still rosé tasting of red apple peel and rosehips, made from Pinot Noir and Meunier.

Visit the land

Rather than simply looking out for Welsh wines in independent merchants, go and visit the vineyards yourself, as wine tourism offers many options here.

There are delicious homemade lunches and wine tastings at Gwinllan Hebron, tours and tastings in the new vineyards at The Dell, more tours and an excellent cellar door tasting room at White Castle, and holiday cottages at Ancre Hill and Whinyard Rocks, to name just a few.

Ideally, make it an overnight stay at one of the first (and best) vineyard hotels, Llanerch Vineyard Hotel, located in beautiful countryside just 12 miles from central Cardiff. With an excellent restaurant and its own wines produced from vineyards grown around the hotel, it’s a great base from which to start exploring the inventive wines of Wales.

Wines from Wales – seven to try

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