I hate to pick a fight with a fellow Speccie scribe but, as this august organ’s drinks editor, I must take issue with Dr Andrew Cunningham and his recent dismissal of English wine. Andrew lives in West Sussex and I live in East Sussex. He explains that he’s near Nyetimber, Nutbourne and Kinsbrook (not to mention Ambriel, Roebuck and Tinwood); I’m near Breaky Bottom, Court Garden and Ridgeview (not to mention Artelium, Black Dog Hill and Bolney). There’s no question that we both live in bona fide wine regions.
I don’t drink English wine because it’s English, I drink it because I love it
There are 950 vineyards in the UK and over 200 wineries, from Kent to Cornwall and from Devon to Denbighshire. There are a dozen alone in Yorkshire. And, as Dr C points out, sales of English wine are booming. This is for good reason: the best are blooming delicious. I admit that there are some also-rans – dreary, acidic, over-priced examples produced by folk belatedly clambering on the English wine bandwagon, intent simply on having a fancy wine label to their name.
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