11 English wines to try this English Wine Week

English wine is certainly having its moment. Recent years have seen the market steadily grow, and now this area boasts nearly 600 vineyards, with more and more people discovering the bounty of bottles being produced on their doorstep. And as proof of their quality, English wines are winning top awards around the world, with both sparkling and still wines making their mark.

Anjali Douglas, a wine educator at WSET (The Wine & Spirit Education Trust) says it’s an exciting time for wine producers and enthusiasts in England and she’s been watching the production of different kinds of wine with a keen eye.

“English sparkling wine now has a firm place on the world stage,” she says. “Wines made via the traditional method (the same way as Champagne) still account for the vast majority of production and are becoming more elegant, sought after and (sadly!) expensive each year. But there is also a small but fascinating emergence of a more affordable style of sparkling wine from England, made in methods that take less time to produce.

“More and more of us are drinking English Pétillant Naturel (pét nat) or Col Fondo wines - both of these styles don’t require the labour-intensive process of removing the yeast sediment that is used to give them their ‘sparkle’. These wines are often light in alcohol, fruity with a mouth puckering tang from the yeast.

“There is also increasing excitement around still English wine,” she adds. “Still versions of the key Champagne grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier are all made to high quality levels, and wines made from Meunier are gaining a reputation for being an English ‘signature’.

“Red wines can be the trickiest to produce in England’s marginal climate, but there is lots of buzz around reds from Crouch Valley in Essex – these wines aren’t cheap but they’re becoming as refined and complex as fine Burgundy.”

She also points out that there’s a whole range of more experimental options being created, too. “One of the lovely sides to English wine is the left-field, experimental, slightly eccentric makers that are out there,” she explains.

“These aren’t trends as such, as they’re often made on a small scale by individual producers, and they aren’t comparable to classic French wines, but tasting these styles can be joyful. From wines aged in amphora, quirky aromatic blends, orange wine and beyond – winemakers across England are fast developing their own identity.”

Here we’ve rounded up 11 different English wines for you to try. Enjoy!