England is one of the most exciting regions in the wine world right now. Oz Clarke calls it ‘the newest New World wine country’ and our wines, particularly the sparkling ones, are winning more admirers and accolades with every passing year. So if you haven’t got on board with the delights of English sparkling wine yet, now’s the time to do so. And we’re here to help. We’ve put together this definitive guide to English sparkling wine to fill you in on all things English and sparkling: how it’s made, where it comes from, what it tastes like, why it’s become the envy of Champagne and more.
Put simply, English sparkling wine is our answer to Champagne. It’s made using the same method, mostly using the same grape varieties grown in similar conditions to those traditionally found in Champagne. These conditions are mainly found in Southern England and Wales, where most of the UK’s vineyards are located.Â
The history of English sparkling wine actually stretches back farther than you may think. In its modern incarnation, it began rising to prominence in the 1990s, which is when our pioneering founder Mike Roberts planted the first vines on the Ridgeview estate. At the time, English wines were at best a novelty, at worst a bit of a laughing stock. Most vineyards were planted with obscure German grape varieties, producing searingly acidic still white wines that even wine lovers struggled to enjoy. But Mike had a big vision, built on an inkling that our growing conditions were just right for producing top-quality sparkling wines.Â
At the time, few people believed it was possible. But the last three decades have turned that vision into a crystal-clear reality. Today, English sparkling wine is a Great British success story and an international hit, stocked in our biggest supermarkets and sipped in over 40 countries. In fact, the industry has evolved to the point where there are now government rules protecting the phrase ‘English Sparkling Wine’. Why does this matter? Because the defining feature of English sparkling wine is quality. And alongside English winemakers’ passion for excellence, these rules help to deliver this quality in every bottle bearing the term.Â
SHOP ENGLISH SPARKLING WINEThere are six main ways to make sparkling wine. Of them all, the ‘Classic Method’ is the most traditional and intricate. It’s a true labour of love, requiring time, patience, craft and a deep commitment to producing the world’s finest sparkling wines. This puts Classic Method sparkling wines in a class of their own, with effervescence and a complexity of flavours the mass-produced, tank-fermented likes of Prosecco simply cannot match. We’ve dedicated an entire article to how English sparkling wine is made, but here it is in a nutshell…
The first requirement of Classic Method sparkling wines is top-quality grapes, slowly ripened over a long, warm summer. After harvest, these grapes are gently pressed to release their juices, which are fermented into a series of still ‘base wines’. Next we blend, combining different base wines in just the right quantities for the style of sparkling wine we want to make. The blend is bottled with a critical addition – a small dose of yeast and sugar that kickstarts the all-important second fermentation. As the yeast consumes the sugar, it releases CO2 into the sealed bottle. With nowhere to escape, this gas dissolves in the wine and a future English sparkling wine is born. Even at this stage, the wine is still a long way from maturity.
One of the hallmarks of English sparkling wine is a delicious array of toasty or buttered pastry flavours. These come from a special maturation period that can last as long as a decade – more evidence of the care and dedication taken to produce these wonder wines.
In terms of overall style and production methods, there are fundamental similarities between English sparkling wine and Champagne. But the differences are more striking, and they help to explain the growing buzz around English sparkling wine. There’s a strong argument, less controversial than it may sound, that where Champagne has the history, the future belongs to English sparkling wine. This is a matter of land and climate, as well as a testament to the expertise and hard work of the UK’s new generation of winemakers.Â
Due to climate change, Southern England now has the growing conditions Champagne enjoyed 40 years ago. Both regions have very similar soil structures, with Sussex and Kent lying on the same bedrock as Champagne. But crucially, our summers have hit that sweet spot of marginal warmth essential for ripening grapes slowly. Meanwhile in north-eastern France, growers are struggling with summer temperatures in excess of 40o and grapes that ripen too quickly to retain all-important acidity. As a result, in recognition of our exceptional growing conditions, renowned Champagne houses like Pommery and Taittinger now own vineyards in Southern England.Â
It’s a well-earned compliment. Our vineyards become ever more precious as our wines gain more plaudits. And those plaudits are coming thick and fast. Not only have English sparkling wines been consistently beating Champagnes in blind tastings for the last few years, but they also regularly scoop the wine world’s most prestigious awards. In fact, as far back as 2010, Ridgeview made history when our Blanc de Blancs was crowned Decanter’s World’s Best Sparkling Wine – a first for any English wine.
Blanc de Blancs in a nutshellOur wines are so celebrated for a very good reason. It isn’t just that they taste delicious. More than that, they taste exciting. There’s a verve to English sparkling wines that comes from their trademark balance. Over those long, just-warm-enough summers, our grapes retain acidity while developing their fruit basket of flavours. This results in sparkling wines of extraordinary purity and energy, with all the essential characters held in taut balance. Ushered in on a cascade of fine, frothy bubbles, these are wines that truly come alive in the mouth.
Fruity freshness is the defining feature of English sparkling wines. Beyond that, the specific flavours will vary with the producer, their growing terroir, the grape varieties used and the style of wine they choose to make. As a rule of thumb, white English sparkling wines such as our own Bloomsbury NV typically have more lemon, green apple and white peach flavours. Meanwhile, rosés such as our Fitzrovia NV show more red fruits – strawberries, red cherries, redcurrants and raspberries. However, with so many choices available to the UK’s winemakers, there is a thrilling landscape of stylistic subtleties to be explored.
For instance, some growing regions produce grapes with riper fruit flavours; others give more lean, steely, refreshing characters. The best producers tend to mix these different qualities into their blend to add complexity and balance to the final wines – try our award-winning Blanc de Noirs to taste the heights English grapes are capable of reaching! Ageing is another big variable in how English sparkling wines taste. Some producers like to mature their wines for many years, generating more of those delicious bakery-shop flavours. Others prefer to keep the focus on fruit purity by ageing for less than a year.
As in Champagne, the vast majority of English sparkling wines are made from the holy grape trinity of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Some wines are made using just one of these varieties, but most are a blend of all three.
Chardonnay is the white grape of the trio, often said to bring elegance to the blend. In terms of flavours, it typically contributes zesty citrus freshness, and sometimes honeyed peach or apricot notes. Used solo, it makes sparkling wines known as Blanc de Blancs.
Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are both black grapes, making them the key component of rosé sparkling wines like our celebrated Rosé de Noirs. Nevertheless, when pressed gently to leave the colour compounds in their skins, both are also used in most white English sparkling wines.
Pinot Noir’s role is to add structure, body and spicy red fruit flavours. Pinot Meunier is a soft and supple counterpart, bringing sweeter red fruits, along with the occasional floral edge.
SHOP ENGLISH SPARKLING WINEUK wine grapes mainly grow in Southern England, although successful vineyard plantings extend into Wales and as far north as Yorkshire. And while there are established and very reputable growers in the South West, the true heartland is the South East. This is partly a matter of topography, with the south-eastern corner of England lying on the same bedrock as Champagne.
Kent and Sussex sparkling wines also derive from the same patchwork of chalk and clay in their topsoils, which is what inspired the early English wine pioneers to plant grapevines on the south-facing slopes of the South Downs and the Weald. Before long, Kent and Sussex sparkling wine producers had become what Oz Clarke calls ‘the engine room’ of the English wine industry, which they remain to this day. Word spread and growers began planting in Hampshire, Surrey and fertile East Anglia. From there, the nucleus of English growing regions has extended to cover an area as large as Champagne.
This has led to an incredible diversity of English growing conditions, all imprinting subtly different characters on the wines they produce. Here at Ridgeview, with our unwavering focus on quality, we make the most of the possibilities on offer by working with grape growers and partner vineyards across the whole of Southern England. This allows us to select only the finest grapes with the exact characteristics we want to bring to our wines.
English sparkling wine is one of the wine world’s newest success stories, but things are only set to get more exciting. The buzz around the phenomenal quality of our wines is growing all the time, boosting their popularity at home and abroad.
On the production side, yet more brilliant vineyard sites are being found, more vines are being planted and winemakers are learning more with every passing vintage. Experimentation is leading to innovations such as Ridgeview’s Sparkling Red Reserve, made from luscious homegrown Pinot Noir grapes, which scooped Wine GB’s inaugural Pioneer Trophy.Â
Meanwhile, quality producers are increasingly looking at English sparkling wines the right way, with respect for people and the planet. Sustainability is a growing focus. As a certified B Corp and accredited member of Sustainable Wines of Great Britain, Ridgeview is leading the way in this regard too.
The rise of English sparkling wine is a story we’re immensely proud to be part of, and we’re delighted to be welcoming new converts every day. So whether you’re gifting a bottle of something special or savouring it for yourself, this is definitely the time to be getting in on the buzz surrounding English sparkling wine.
Shop Limited Edition WinesBrowse our A-Z glossary of top technical terms to help you speak English sparkling wine like a pro.
A chemical process where expired yeast cells break down in the bottle and release compounds that add complex toasty and pastry flavours and aromas - a crucial characteristic of English sparkling wine.
A term for each of the still wines we blend together before bottling for the second fermentation.
A white sparkling wine made using white grapes (literally ‘white from whites’).
A white sparkling wine made using black grapes (‘white from blacks’).
The meticulous, quality-driven method of producing English sparkling wines, involving a second fermentation in bottle, triggered by adding a dose of yeast and sugar to the bottle alongside the base wines. Also known as the traditional method.
Juice from the first ‘cut’ of a grape pressing, generally considered to be the highest quality. (Confusingly, in still wine production, cuvée means ‘blend’.)
The process of removing the dead yeast cells from a bottle of sparkling wine following the second fermentation and lees ageing.
A term for the deposit of dead yeast cells in a bottle of sparkling wine, removed by disgorging after they have finished their work.
A sparkling wine made with a blend of base wines from different vintages.
A rosé sparkling wine made exclusively from black grapes.
The fingerprint left on a wine by the unique growing conditions of the vineyard it originated from, encompassing geology, climate, topography and human factors.
The critical stage of sparkling winemaking where the blended base wines are bottled for the second fermentation, along with a dose of yeast and sugar (known as the ‘liqueur de tirage’).
A vintage sparkling wine is one made entirely using base wines from a single growing year. These are the only sparkling wines that can display the year on the bottle.
Tour our beautiful estate in the Sussex countryside and try a selection of our award-winning English sparkling wines. And, there is no better way to round off your experience than a visit to our restaurant, The Rows & Vine.
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