Beyond Champagne: The Rise of English Sparkling Wine

Anna grew up in Kent, among the rolling chalk hills, the orchards, the oast houses, and the slightly moody skies that can turn glorious without warning. I grew up in Lancashire, which has its own charms but is not, it is fair to say, natural wine-growing territory. When I moved south to be with Anna in 2007, we settled in Groombridge, a village near Tunbridge Wells, and it was there, living among the vineyards of the Weald and the North Downs, that English wine first properly got under our skin.

At that time, there were a handful of wineries and vineyards dotted across Kent and Sussex. Nothing like what is there now. The growth in English wine production over the last decade has been extraordinary: WineGB, the organisation that represents all the British wineries, now counts over 1,000 vineyards across the country. But the moment that truly changed everything happened earlier. In 2003, Nyetimber, a West Sussex estate planted on ancient chalk, entered a blind tasting at the Sparkling Wine World Championships and beat Bollinger and Louis Roederer. French Champagne houses, outperformed by an English wine that most people had never heard of.

Most Americans we speak to have never heard of English sparkling wine. That is not a criticism; it is simply the reality. Only about 4% of English wine leaves the UK, and most of that goes to Scandinavia. So unless you have been paying particularly close attention, there is no reason you would know that England has quietly become a serious challenger to Champagne.

We would like to change that.

The Same Chalk, a Different Character

The chalk soils of southern England, across Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, are geologically identical to the soils beneath Champagne. Same ancient seabed, same mineral-rich chalk, separated by nothing more than the English Channel. When you plant the same grape varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier), in the same soil, and make the wine using the same traditional method, with second fermentation in the bottle and months on the lees, something rather remarkable happens.

English sparkling wines have a distinctive brightness. Crisper than Champagne, with more green apple and citrus, less of the toasty brioche richness, more mineral freshness. Anna describes it as "the kind of wine that makes you want another glass before you have finished the one in your hand." That is about right.

The Champagne houses noticed. Taittinger bought land in Kent and established Domaine Evremond. Pommery followed. When the people who have been making the world's most celebrated sparkling wine for centuries start buying English farmland, that tells you something no tasting note ever could.

Buckingham Palace Agrees

If there is one producer we reach for when someone tells us they have never tried English sparkling wine, it is Ridgeview.

Ridgeview's Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs has been served at Buckingham Palace State Banquets, not once but four times, including for President Obama and King Charles's first State Banquet. It is a pure Chardonnay sparkling wine with pronounced chalk minerality and a long, fine finish. Their Bloomsbury, a classic three-grape blend, is more approachable and a reliable introduction to English fizz. Both sit at a fraction of the price of the Champagnes they regularly compete with in blind tastings.

Walking the Vineyards

We visit English wineries whenever we are back in the UK. We have maintained long-standing relationships with many of the producers, having served their wines at our bar over the years, and we have been involved with WineGB for a long time. One visit that stays with us is Gusbourne, down in Kent. We walked in and the person running the place, Dan Grainger, was someone we recognised immediately. He used to run a brilliant independent wine merchant's shop in Tunbridge Wells, where we used to live.

One of Dan's colleagues walked us through the vineyard and explained how the site works: the way the land slopes to catch the best of the available sun in a climate that can be, shall we say, capricious. Gusbourne's Brut Reserve spends extended time on lees, producing a wine with noticeable depth and a texture that sits closer to vintage Champagne than most English sparkling wines attempt. Their Blanc de Blancs is equally precise, all chalk and citrus, with a finish that stays with you.

And then there is Chapel Down, which operates at a larger scale. Their Classic Non-Vintage is well-made and consistent, and at around $30 it is the most accessible entry point to the category. Between Ridgeview, Gusbourne, and Chapel Down, you have a range that covers everyday drinking through to wines that would hold their own at a formal dinner.

It is worth mentioning that a good friend of ours from the California wine industry moved to the UK a couple of years ago and ended up at Hattingley Valley, a Hampshire sparkling wine producer. The fact that experienced Californian wine people are now crossing the Atlantic in the opposite direction to us says a good deal about the quality being produced. For a broader overview, Decanter's guide to English sparkling wine is well worth a read.

Why It Matters to Us

As winemakers ourselves, producing small-batch, single-varietal wines from vineyards here in the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria Valleys through our own Arrowsmith Winery, we understand what goes into every bottle. Our winemaker, Riki Hill, works with small, privately owned vineyards where we can be involved in every decision from the first spring buds to the finished wine. That same commitment to site-specific, careful winemaking is something we recognise in the best English sparkling wine producers.

Anna and I both have PhDs, and between that academic rigour and our years in the wine trade, we tend to approach things with a degree of thoroughness that probably borders on obsessive. We personally taste everything we buy, some days fifty wines at a stretch. Not the worst job in the world, admittedly, but we take it seriously. Both of us have to like a wine for it to make it onto the list or into a club shipment. We are looking for quality, value, and something with a genuine sense of place.

The challenge with English sparkling wine in America is simply awareness. People do not know it exists. Persuading someone to try something they have never encountered is harder than persuading them to switch from something they already know. You cannot compete with Champagne on brand recognition, not yet. So we come at it differently. We tell the story, we pour the wine, and we let people draw their own conclusions.

They almost always want a second glass.

Finding English Sparkling Wine in the US

Because so little English wine is exported, finding it in America requires a bit of effort. That is where we come in. We source English sparkling wines directly from the producers we know and trust, and ship them to your door. You can browse our English wine selection at The English Wine Shop, or find selected bottles at arrowsmithwine.com.

If you are not sure where to start, or if you would like us to put together something tailored to your tastes, just get in touch. Drop us an email at info@arrowsmithwine.com or give us a call. We are always happy to talk it through.

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