Grape expectations: English wine turns to exotic varieties

According to Wine GB figures, Pinot Gris just sneaks into the top ten most planted English grape varieties with 58 hectares compared to 1,228 hectares of Chardonnay. Pinot Blanc is in the top five most planted in East Anglia. Ben Walgate, formerly of Tillingham and now with his own eponymous venture, describes the 2020 and 2022 Pinot Blancs he made from the Crouch Valley in Essex as ‘incredible’, adding that a long ripening window results in ‘phenolic ripeness but you keep the acidity. Pinot Blanc could be a little trump card.’

This is something I have noticed with Pinot Gris: in England, it produces a style with the flavour of Alsace but the freshness of northern Italy. It’s also versatile. Both Artelium in Sussex and Sandridge Barton in Devon produce elegant skin-contact wines using the variety, while at Offbeat Wines in Wiltshire, I tasted a nutty ‘rancio’ example that had been sitting in a glass demi-john out in the elements.

Vineyard consultant Stephen Skelton notes that ‘Pinot Gris has a name people recognise.’ Bolney Estate in Sussex has produced good examples for years but winemaker Cara Lee Dely isn’t certain about its future: ‘A large number are ripping up Pinot Gris because it’s hard to farm. It really attracts wasps and in bad years it gets all the diseases.’

In contrast, Tom Barnes, winemaker at Biddenden in Kent, is planting more Gewürztraminer after the success of his 2023 wine, which had all the aromatics you would hope for with this variety but with a steely, Riesling-esque backbone. It hasn’t been easy; the vines were planted in 2013 and this is the first successful vintage. According to Barnes, ‘It really comes into its own when the vines have some age.’ Climate change helps too: ‘It stays warmer for longer in late summer and early autumn, giving us longer hang time,’ he says.

While growers like the Barnes family planted tricky varieties as an experiment, others had different ideas. According to Kevin Sutherland, the Kiwi winemaker at Bluebell in Sussex, owner Barry Tay planted Chasselas because it has ‘big berries, big bunches and heavy cropping.’ You can get a better yield than Chardonnay but, Sutherland continued, ‘If you’re looking for good fruit ripeness, you need to do some heavy crop thinning.’ The results have been so good that the ex-Swiss ambassador mistook one vintage for a Swiss wine.

A similar thing happened with Chapel Down’s first-ever Albariño, which was mistaken for a Galician wine at a tasting in Madrid. It was the 2014 vintage from the Sandhurst vineyard, planted in 2011 by Chris Nicholas, one of the largest growers in England. Winemaker Josh Donaghy-Spier explains: ‘Nicholas had noted that the climate in Galicia was not dissimilar to England – high humidity, cool temperatures – and thought, “Let’s give it a go.”’ In almost every vintage since 2014, Chapel Down has released a varietal wine from this one-acre plot.

While Chapel Down’s production is tiny, nearby Balfour has committed more to the variety with a four-acre planting at Linton Hill near Maidstone. The inaugural 2022 release caused a sensation in English wine circles. A cheaper 1503 version followed – Majestic stocks the 2023 for a reasonable £17. Winemaker Fergus Elias explained some of the difficulties: ‘It usually comes in around mid-November, which is weeks after everything else. It also comes in with fairly high acid, so you’ve got to keep an eye on how that evolves through fermentation and beyond.’

The other problem, as always in England, is yield. According to Donaghy-Spier, he gets from Albariño between 33% and 75% of what you might get from Bacchus. Skelton thinks if growers are going to take all the trouble with a difficult variety, they might as well just plant Chardonnay, as it resonates with customers.

The same could be said about Sauvignon Blanc. At the Wine GB tasting in 2021, three separate growers told me their Sauvignon Blanc was the only one in the room. None were particularly good but things have improved since then. Bolney has just released a limited edition 2022 example from a vineyard near Southampton. ‘I’m blown away that it is English; hats off to my team,’ head winemaker Cara Dely says. Elias from Balfour adds: ‘The one I’m most excited about at the moment is Sauvignon Blanc. Our first release is due around English Wine Week.’

Noble reds except Pinot Noir are in short supply, though Biddenden produces a ripe Gamay in warm vintages like 2022. Bluebell has some Merlot that goes into a light red and a sparkling wine. Sutherland says it’s a tricky customer, as a certain level of ripeness needs to be achieved before it loses its green pepper aroma – otherwise it’s unusable, even for blending.

Perhaps the answer might be found in Hampshire, where fruit farmer Sandy Booth and winemaker Guillaume Lagger are working at the Beaulieu estate, a pioneering name in English wine. Their venture, Beaulieu 58, uses polytunnels to grow varieties including Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Gewürztraminer. Not only do they keep the vines dry and warm but lower disease pressure means less spraying and yields up to twice what you’d get without them. The inaugural release included a promising Cabernet Franc and Syrah blend alongside an opulent Gewürztraminer.

What’s next? Christina Rasmussen has planted Savagnin, a Jura clone of Gewurztraminer, in the Cotswolds, which she describes as ‘more naturally resistant to powdery and downy mildew than Chardonnay.’ Elias would love to try Aligoté.

Wines such as these are like concept cars – a glimpse into a possible future for the industry as the climate continues to change. They are likely to remain obscure in the short term but who could have predicted the rise of Essex Chardonnay a decade ago? Could Kent Albariño be next? Why not? Stranger things have happened.

Four English wines made with unusual grape varieties to try

Henry Jeffreys is author of Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution, published by Allen & Unwin