Hats off to the English!

Considering the summer we have just had, it is hard to get your head around the concept of the British climate beginning to ape that of Champagne 25 years ago.

The news will be particularly ironic for those still drying out from the floods of last weekend, but whether we can believe it or not there is no doubting the fact there are some pretty seismic changes taking place in the English wine sector.

What is absolutely clear is the quality of wines now being produced by the major English vineyards are now beginning to match up to the scale of their ambitions.

Gold, silver and bronze medals from all the major wine competitions are becoming de rigueur. But what is particularly exciting is the level of investment being ploughed into the sector. The fact that much of this new money is coming from overseas and serious wine operators on the Continent should make even the most cynical observers of English wine sit up and take notice.

Sums of up to £50m are been talked about as producers look to ramp up production levels to meet growing international demand.

Critically much of this demand is for the premium wines and increasingly sparkling wines are becoming the benchmark for English wine.

It helps if the Queen is a signed-up member of your fan club, but the fact Nyetimber's Classic Cuvée is being served at state banquets and has made its way on to the Michelin-starred wine lists of the likes of Gordon Ramsay does wonders for the international image of English wine.

Many traditional wine-producing regions would do anything to be able to position themselves at the premium end of the market. But that is where English wine is already.

It is interesting so many in the sector see themselves as still being on the starting line and there is so much more to come as investments, literally, bear fruit in the coming years.

The biggest challenge for English wine producers will be building momentum slowly and keeping the quality year-in year-out. But we in the UK should get fully behind them.

Richard Siddle is editor of Harpers magazine

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