UK Wine Industry, Famous Wineries and Popular Brands

"Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used - Shakespeare"

Food and wine is often cast as a rather mysterious and unique division of science, but it really is not as mysterious as it seems to be. Wine in the UK can be dated back to Roman times. There were numbers of vineyards in England by the time of the Norman Conquest, most of them attached to monasteries and great houses. The areas of concentration were the coastal areas of the southeast, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The first commercial vineyard in modern times was established at Hambledon in Hampshire in 1951 but significant development in the UK wine industry has been in not much more than the last 30 years.

Climate for wine agriculture The Wine Industry is based on the farming of grapes. According to the geographical conditions, the UK is not suitable for commercial grape production, being too far north. Most of the successful vineyards in the UK are southern England and Wales where, in some parts of southern England, the subsoil is chalk or limestone and has similar geology to that of the Champagne region in France.

The main grape varieties planted in the UK are Reichensteiner, Bacchus, and Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Muller Thurgau and Sylva Blanc; very few of which are names that the average British wine drinker would be familiar with.

British Wine: English and Welsh wine must be produced from fresh grapes grown in the UK, whereas British wine is a form of 'made wine' which can be manufactured in the UK and Ireland from imported grapes, grape juice, grape must or a combination of these. Although 'made wine' products can be called 'wine' they must be prefixed with a term such as British, Mead, Fruit, Tonic etc. These products are not governed by the EU Wine Regime.

With all difficulties of climate and latitude, there are more than 250 commercial vineyards in the UK ranging in size from a few square metres run by small-scale hobbyists to large wineries run by commercially astute wine producers.

Best English Wines:

1. Nyetimber: widely regarded as one of the best English wineries.
2. Curious Grape: Brand name of the UK's largest (and probably best) producer, New Wave Wines
3. Three Choirs: Sizeable operation in the Midlands making some well priced and tasty wines.
4. Davenport: The UK's leading organic producer, making fresh, bright, full-flavoured whites.
5. Denbies: In Surrey's North Downs, this is the largest producer with some interesting wines.

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