Wine GB: UK had ‘exceptional’ harvest in 2025

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 25 March, 2026

To “celebrate the start of the growing season”, Wine GB has published its 2025 Harvest Report, showing that last year was “exceptional” for the British Isles.

UK production recorded a 39% harvest increase compared to 2024, which the trade association attributed to favourable weather conditions and lack of disease.

An early and dry spring saw the vines come into leaf much sooner than usual.

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This was then compounded by incredible hot weather in June and July – with four separate ‘heatwaves’ in the south – which caused the earliest and ripest grape harvest “ever seen” in the UK, according to Wine GB.

Growing Degree Days (GDD) last year were 1051, compared to the five-year average of 1008.

Average potential alcohol levels achieved were also up from 2024, as well as the 10-year average of 9.47%, to 10.48%. Additionally, tartaric acid levels fell from the 10-year average of 10.47g/l to 10.22g/l.

The Wine GB Wine Technical Group called 2025 “a mast year” and added that it anticipates “some exceptional wines”.

Some grape varieties performed especially well, including Bacchus (producing 9.5t/ha compared to the five-year average of 6.75t/ha), Solaris (7.2t/ha compared to 4.20t/ha) and Pinot Noir (5.90t/ha compared to 5.79t/ha).

Authored by Stephen Skelton MW, the report used data from the Wine GB Harvest Yield Survey 2025 (along with other cited sources).

These results are also confirmed by statistics from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), released at the same time, which found that total production of English and Welsh wine rose 55% compared to 2024.

Around 124,377hl of wine – equivalent to over 16.5m bottles – were produced in the UK in 2025.

Nicola Bates, CEO of Wine GB, commented: “We take great optimism from scale of the harvest and most importantly the fantastic quality of fruit we are now producing.

“These results recognise the hard work and efforts of our growers, viticulturists and winemakers and they should feel incredibly proud of this set of results. We are showing real resilience as a sector with exciting times ahead.”

The trade association has also released its new, and revised, Green Book for 2026.

Produced by Wine GB’s Viticulture Working Group – alongside advice from horticultural agronomist Will Robinson and Dr Joanna McTique – the book contains information about products that can be used on wine grapes in the UK.

This includes the legislation surrounding such products, and their safe and effective use.

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