Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
It’s surprising, in a sense, that the category of English wine that’s the first to establish itself as seriously good is the most expensive: the bubbly.
Our still whites haven’t yet quite produced show models to follow; and reds, often struggling to reach full ripeness, are so far generally considered a bit thin.
The best Essex Pinot Noir, notably from the Danbury ridge, which looks south over the valley of the Crouch river, has everything you can hope for – and costs as much as good red Burgundy.
You don’t save money by staying close to home.
I do feel solidarity, though, with the courageous growers who stake so much on challenging history and the English weather. Over the centuries, it has been our (that is British) taste and thirst that has steered the reputations and fortunes of many, perhaps most, European wines.
Meanwhile, if early reports from producers are to be believed, 2025 may be one of our best vintages.
I even managed to persuade the rather sceptical wine committee of my London club to choose an English fizz. (As an aside, why do we insist on using this banal – indeed inelegant – term, where ‘bubbly’ is friendlier, more euphonious and somehow thoroughly English? Also accurate: a steady stream of little bubbles is what we want; not a frothy head.)
We haven’t – at least I haven’t – reached the stage yet where we can say with confidence, ‘Ah, Hampshire,’ or ‘Unmistakably the North Downs, probably east of Wrotham.’ Blends are the general rule – as in Champagne. There’s a spot of Essex in most, I suspect, and maybe even a smidge of Cornwall.
Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
‘Single vineyard’ is often flourished as a talisman of quality; we’ll see how long it takes here.
Why I often choose to drink English rather than Champagne – or any other of the world’s multifarious sparklers – is partly patriotism, wanting to encourage our promising young industry, but largely because I love its racy freshness.
It’s hard to quench your thirst with Champagne; much easier with a tankard (come on, chaps!) of Wessex.
Hugh Johnson is one of the world’s best-selling wine writers, known for his annual Pocket Wine Book and The World Atlas of Wine, first published in 1977 and 1971 respectively. His autobiography, A Life Uncorked, was published in 2006. Among his many accolades, he was named Decanter’s Man of the Year in 1995, Officer in the French Order Nationale du Mérite in 2004 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007.