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Subscribe to RSSEngland's vineyards are now giving those in neighboring France a run for their money. NBC News' Theresa Cook reports.
HAYWARDS HEATH, England -- "I imagine hell like this: Italian punctuality, German humor and English wine." Attributed to actor and writer Peter Ustinov, that gibe has long been the conventional wisdom in Britain -- the world's biggest wine importer.
But these days, a small but growing number of English winemakers are having the last laugh.
The Bolney Estate in West Sussex took home a Gold Outstanding award for its 2007 Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine at this year's International Wine and Spirit Competition. The event attracted nearly 3,000 entrants and the English vineyard scored a coup by winning one of only 12 such distinctions conferred in the wine category.
The judges' tasting notes almost seemed to be a metaphor for the industry itself, praising the wine as "youthfully exuberant and with immense charm" and "perfectly dry, harmonious and polished even at this youthful stage."
Sam Linter, winemaker at The Bolney Estate, recalled how her parents started a small-scale planting in the southern England vineyard in 1972.
Her mother Janet Pratt, a horticulturalist, helped realize the dream of husband Rodney Pratt, who discovered a passion for winemaking while studying in Germany and living with a host family which tended its vineyard on weekends.
Experimental varieties
But the Pratts soon discovered they needed more than love of the land.
"They planted the wrong varieties, did the wrong things, scrapped the vineyard, started again, and then started planting experimental varieties, they could really start learning what would really work well here," Linter told NBCNews.com. "And they worked really hard at that for a few years until they gradually got the knowledge base that we have now in order to plant more."
Linter said that English winemakers' inital toils produced very little wine. "The quality -- it wasn't there in the early days, I think we'd all admit that," she added.
Slowly, they figured it out -- the experimentation produced an award-winning wine in the 1980s, and won over their daughter, who would take over in the next decade. "They actually showed that they could do it, too, and so I suddenly realized there's actually a hidden potential here that needs developing."
NBC News
A 2007 Blanc de Blancs sparking wine grown at The Bolney Estate in southern England, seen here, took home a Gold Outstanding award at this year's International Wine and Spirit Competition.
Linter and her team have been hard at work building on her parents' legacy.
But despite the awards bestowed on Bolney and a handful of other winemakers across England, to many it's still far from mainstream. Marketing English sparkling wines is seen as difficult enough to have featured as one of the challenges designed to stymie contestants Britain's version of "The Apprentice" this season.
For the past year, Londoner Julia Stafford has been working to change that, preaching the gospel of English wine. Her pulpit: a tiny stall in London's bustling foodie haven, Borough Market. Her mission: to show customers that tasting is believing.
"If you think about it, we import 1.77 billion bottles of still and sparkling wine every year," she said. "And we're only a tiny little island -- so we appreciate our wines."
English customers, Stafford said, "want to find something to be proud of.”
"What we find over here is, they come in, they taste, they find something they like and they become repeat customers, and we have a really strong, loyal following," she said.
Stafford herself is a convert. She left a career in oil and gas to pursue "more sustainable, energy-efficient businesses." The original plan was to open a completely English-sourced pub in London's Marylebone neighborhood. As part of her research, she turned her attention to the country's wines.
"I didn't actually know anything about English wine at the time. So I basically went on a two-year exploration of the countryside, going around to vineyards. Some of them are so small that they don't even have anybody to man the telephones, they don't have email, and it's almost an inside joke that you sometimes have to send pigeons to get messages to some of the very, very small ones."
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London's Wine Pantry is believed to be the only outlet to exclusively retail English wines.
It was from her travels and meetings that she "got the English wine bug." When back in London, Stafford said she was able to read about the wineries racking up awards -- but there was one problem.
"There was nowhere actually where you could buy or taste them," she said.
So Stafford changed course, opening up the Wine Pantry -- believed to be the only outlet to exclusively retail English wines.
Her shop is tiny, like the industry itself.
In England, there are only 419 vineyards and about 2,985 acres in production for all types of wine: red, white, still, sparkling. That's three-and-a-half times the size of New York City's Central Park.
In France, in contrast, more than 4,700 winegrowers operate in the Champagne region alone, planting almost 83,000 acres -- the equivalent of planting Manhattan five-and-a-half times over with vines.
About 385 million bottles of bubbly leave Champagne vineyards each year. England produces a fraction of that, with 2.4 million bottles of white and 611,200 bottles of red.
'A very, very good product'
But despite the disparity in the production numbers, many of the vineyards across England have learned from the trial and error. And the grapes of Champagne don't just grow well in their home soil, they've flourished in the cooler climes across the English Channel.
"It's not just Champagne, Champagne, Champagne," according to manager and sommelier team member Mark Cesareo of London’s The Gilbert Scott, the latest offering from Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing. "People are starting to realize that ultimately, English sparkling wine is a very, very good product."
The restaurant -- housed within St. Pancras International Station, from where high-speed Eurostar trains zip between London and Paris -- also specializes in British food. Cesareo said that offers an opportunity to showcase England's finest wine along with the cuisine. Sometimes he orders more cases of English sparkling wines than Champagne -- not quite a regular occurrence, but he said he does see an emerging pattern.
"English sparkling wine -- it's about time, especially this year with the [Queen's Diamond] Jubilee, the Olympics, the [royal] wedding that just passed last year. It's the perfect time for it. Now is the time, now is the time," Cesareo declared.
Standing amid her vines, Linter gives credit to the French and the "massive amount of experience" in a country that supplies vines throughout Europe in addition to growing its own lauded stock. "But of course once the vines come over and we've planted them in our soil, they grow in our climate, in our soil; they're trained and looked after by us -- they become English. They've almost got their passport, by being planted in the soil."
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English wine?
I've never had a sophisticated enough palette as to render an opinion. But, that is going to be a hard sell for most people.
English wine is to wine what English cuisine is to cuisine.
"But these days, a small but growing number of English winemakers are having the last laugh."
Interestingly, during the last bout of 'global warming' (the Medieval Warm Period of about 900 years ago, when temperatures were perhaps higher than now), wine making was common in England.
Of course that's 'An Inconvenient Truth' to those global warming alarmists since it was long before the Industrial Revolution. Let's see now - what can they blame THAT episode on, which lasted for about 300 years.
Roy, I know you won't change your mind but you could do some reading about climate change. Climate scientists are much more knowledgeable than you about past climate change. The evidence is that now the climate is changing in part due to man's activities. This for you is "an inconvenient truth."
Denver Bill has absolutely no idea what English cuisine is actually like.
Ahhh, I see the wisdom of your logic. Because something has happened once before, one assumes that it is happening for the same reason today.
So, if one had an aunt who died of whooping cough 30 years ago, one should not be overly concerned by the bullet riddled corpse one finds on the sidewalk today ...because, of course, these things happen.
Scientists argue and theorize as to the cause of the Medieval Warm period, but this is because of a lack of hard data regarding the possible factors at work. But today there is sufficient evidence to pinpoint the probable cause of our warming climate, and the most obvious candidate is human activity.
This is good because the price of Prestone is out of hand.
New York can do it then..
Oh please...did they just take a break from looking down their noses and discover the French, Italians, Germans, and they rest of the world have been making wine for a few hundred years and now they are sure it's not just a fad but it will catch on so jump on that bang wagon you tea addicts...pretty good run on sentence if I do say so myself.
What is your problem, why so anti British
If only Britain could do something good eh!!!, maybe you in the USA can try making real beer.
LOL Classic and so true!
To be fair to them Barry, they do make some lovely craft beers (in fact there are a lot of micro breweries in the UK that are inspired by them) nowadays and that scene is growing stronger year by year. We could learn a thing or 2 from them on offering a variety of styles. However, they still can't get the hang of 'real ale'.
Barry, The British know even less about beer than they do about wine. The British brew warm crappy mud not beer. I would add British dentistry to the Ustinov quote.
maybe you in the USA can try making real beer.
Maybe you can try keeping your nose out of topics you evidently know nothing about. By and large, America produces the vast majority of the world's best beers. Look at any top 50 of the best beers in the world and you'll see they are dominated by names like "Russian River," "Three Floyds," "Founders," and "Goose Island": U.S.-brewed.
And that's not to say that you guys can't make good wine. But the old, tired assumption that Americans can't make good beer is not only incorrect; it is diametrically opposed to reality.
Too many people believe that "Budweiser" and "Coors" are the peak of American brewing, but any realistic survey of American beer will demonstrate the fatal flaw of that bias. As Ernest indicated, any list of "top" beers will show an overwhelming bias to American brewed beers. Take the recent, 2012 "Beer Advocate Top 100 Beers on Planet Earth." American beers dominated their list, with 71 American beers listed.
Here's another site that breaks down the numbers for you: Brookston Beer Bulletin
Now, this bias against American beers is, I think, equal to an American bias against British wines. I've never sampled one, but I've been consistently surprised by wines made in non-traditional regions-- like, say, Arizona. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, and I'd let my tongue and nose do the judging.
Barry the Brit Britain doesn't make real beer, the only good alcohol is Scotch whiskey. There is no such a thing like British cuisine or British beaches either.
in a word....no
Why don't they stop worrying about their eurotrash wine and worry more about oral hygiene.
...or their socialist systems which are coming apart!
Eurotrash???, anything un-american is trash. IDIOT
jphelps-1511, plenty of socialist European countries are doing just fine. Judging the entire continent by Greece, Spain, and Italy is as about as smart as judging the entire US by Mississippi and West Virginia.
I find this laughable to even imply they can compete with the Cote d' Or, Bordeaux or Tuscany. As for Califonia? That Smuckers jam swill with alcohol is hardly worth mention. Peasants!
Ha ha ha ha ha !
The French vineyards were saved by rootstock from Texas.
Set record straight, wine was/has been made since we climbed outta the trees and started farming! But in 900 England was the primo wine maker in the then known world--climate much warmer. Then the mini-ice-age hit and that was it until now that Earth is warming again and England back on top. I do not drink wine--I drink grape juice--much healthier, I drink beer and bourbon--both made in USA!
As the grape growing region migrates northward, France will lose their ability to produce their wine and naturally, other countries will produce more and in some cases, better product. Just because it's French doesn't mean it's good...that just marketing to the brainless people, who unfortuantely tend to breed faster.
While touring France I tasted local French wines. They don't hold a candle to ANY CA wine. France has very weird restrictions and such silliness they think they can command excellence. Just the opposite, what they are doing destroys it.
Don't know when most here were last in England, but I have had some fantastic meals there. The Brits have come a long way in improving their cooking, and the days of boiled beef and overlooked veggies seem to be over in most places. And a British pub meal is the best hangover cure I know. As for wine - i'd have to be biting my nose to spite my face if I turned up said nose at an internationally award winning wine just because of origin. Since the IWSC is considered the premiere wine competition, think I'll be looking for this wine the next time I'm inthe UK. Love the US, and buy US most of the time, but just 'cuz something's not from here doesn't mean it's no good.
Readers say no to this article.
Wow, seeing a lot of hating on the Brits. Why not make wine? I say go for it, blokes! And for those who sterotype British food, you've obviously never had sticky toffee pudding...
Kathy - that is one of my favorites hahaha. Also, it's hard ot beat rare roast beef with jacket potatoes/roasted potatoes and the rest. In Bath there is a lovely restaurant in an old house right off the Crescent that makes a superlative duck - can't remember the name of the place unfortunately. Scones with clotted creme and raspberry jam anyone?
is it too early for wine? nah....
Personally I prefer Australian wines, with some german, italian and french thrown in for good measure. Spain has been coming back after about a 30 year production deficit due to disease and drought. Good wines come from all over the world if one cares to pursue some research on them. We just came back from a month long tour of France, Italy, Prague and England. Great wines to be had in all countries. Samur wines from the Loire Valley are superb. Toscanni wines from Italy, Spatlese's from Germany and a white wine from the above mentioned Bolny Vineyard were all memorable. The wine in Chekoslovakia (sp?) was not all that great I'm afraid - don't know why. Give it a try before you decide - you might surprise yourself.
when the muslims take-over in England - will they destroy the vineyards in the name of Allah & shut-down the wine industry ? Just askin'.......
um, I think you misspelled your screen name? it should say 'totallyparanoid and offmymeds'. just sayin'...
Agreed. Totalfed, stop it with the bigotry and hatred.
That said, in regards to this article: I don't drink wine, but I wish I could sample REAL British cooking. Stuff made in its motherland beats the MSG-laden crap we have here in the States.
If I want real, authentic foreign cooking, I'll eat it in its natural place of origin. Meaning I'd rather have real Chinese food in China, real Italian food in Italy (hell, I'm half-Sicilian, so I'll need to plan a trip to Sicily in the future) - you catch my drift.
Hate comes from the mouths of those with no knowledge, born from the fear bred by that deficiency.
Do they have Southern Baptist people in England? If so the Baptists will join with the Muslims to rid GB of the wicked vine. Is English wine exported to the USA? I have heard of Canadian ice wine but never seen British wine for sale.
I'll have a glass of Tom Goode's Peapod Burgundy, please.
As a home wine maker for many years I've done a lot of research and many of the current wine making techniques and knowledge came from the British Isles, the Brits showed the Romans how to improve their wine making in the 1st/2nd century. Prior to that most Roman, Greek and Asia Minor wines required mixing with water to be drinkable. In some areas of Europe local customs still mix wine with water.
Prior to "The Little Ice Age" that began in the 1300's, England was a major exporter of wines. The primary recipient was none other than France. As the cold weather descended on the British Isles and the grape vines withered, the Irish process of distillation took over and whiskey was born.
The Little Ice Age lasted until the late 1800's and a warm trend that we are all aware of has settled in. With that the British vineyards have once again begin to thrive.
40 years ago, NAPA was treated the same way until the famous Paris tasting in 1976.
And now every state in the US (yes even Alaska) has wine production.
The words "England" and "English" and anything that goes in your mouth don't go together. The only edible item they are noted for is candy and look at their teeth.
Say that to a brits face and loose your teeth.
I have all my teeth, do you? hillbilly toothless redneck.
William doesn't realise that us Brits just tend to prefer keeping our real teeth and not having an overly perfect new set implanted.
I've never had to have so much as a filling.
What's next? An article about French ale?
I had a fantastic English wine once, Buckfast I believe it was called...
I'm more of a mead guy myself......
I've tasted said English wine and it's fantastic and knocks spots off the sparkling wine that comes out of France.
All the Brit bashing that comes from certain Yankee trolls on this site is hilarious.
You need to remember who your friends are, seeing as you have so few these days.
Go Team GB!!!
Hey Jimmy! I'm American, and I don't hate the world. Rather, I wish I could hold a Global Banquet for every culture in the world - food made by REAL chefs from the REAL nations.
I love the world, and I really hope the world loves me. Rock on, Mother Earth! You're the best!
Another misleading headline. Appreciating a good English sparkling wine is not saying no to the many varieties of French champagne. It is possible to say yes to both.
Sooo: The Brits are marking sparkling white wine. Great. But sparkling white is not Champagne.... Not by a long shot.
Just like All Bourbon is classified as whiskey, but not all Whiskey is bourbon.
They conquer the world once, the sun never sat in their empire, hard working people created the conceptual structure for this wonderful USA, they will make good wine if they set their minds to it, why not? if they only would improved their food beyond fish and chips….
I do believe you're referring to the Australians, who have an accent born off the British. Some Scottish blokes said that an Australian-Irish mix makes you Welsh.