Did you know that the British Isles have provided two millennia of 
optimal wine growing conditions? Even despite the recent resurgence of British Wine, this fact is often a surprise to people. A lot of their experiments as far north as Lincolnshire were unmitigated failures, but by the time of the Doomsday book Wine was still grown in over 40 vineyards. Five centuries later, 139 vineyards were recorded, but between 1860 and 1914, the domestic wine industry declined. Lord Palmerstone was the first to topple the industry: he championed ‘free-trade’ and made it cheap to buy merlot and other wines from Europe. But it was the war in Europe that enveloped the world and required staple crops to take over every last bit of available farmland that was the final nail in the coffin.
The perception within the UK itself is definitely that they are wine-drinkers and never wine-makers. However, a tradition of home brewing has brought many farmers and private individuals into a phoenix industry, and since the 1930s the trajectory has been towards a full-scale revival. With the advent of the internet, the ability to buy wine online cheaply has driven the growth of many new vineyards and Wine brands in Britain.
The UK is one of the furthest northern latitudes where wine-making has proven successful. The vineyards are still only really found in the South of the country, though some counties in the midlands have at least one vineyard to their name. Wine made in Britain is almost always ‘English wine’ and almost always labeled under that name. Stigma surrounds the term ‘British Wine’ anyway, as it is usually found on the labels of fermented grape-juice, a non-wine product.. The warm if inconsistent summers of the last decade have resulted in some bumper crops and market success for English wine..
But how does it really compare? English wines are repeatedly receiving brilliant press with many estates turning out award winning bottles that are competitively priced against their continental cousins. But the best way to tell if English wine is for you is to try it. Buy English Wine online now, and see what 2000 years of heritage have done for the islands’ produce.
Tags: Britain, buy wine online, English Wine, wine
