Top 10 wine trends of 2012 – part 2

English sparkling wine reaches a tipping point

The last five years have seen a 40% increase in English vineyard plantings, with more in the pipeline.

Wine consultant Stephen Skelton MW painted an expansive picture of the road ahead, saying: “My estimate is that the 500,000 bottles available now will rise to possibly five million bottles by 2020.”

While applauding this maturation of the English wine industry, however, a number of voices are querying whether there is really enough demand to accommodate such a dramatic supply increase.

The consensus is that export will become crucial to the commercial future of many producers, a shift which has yet to occur in any meaningful quantities.

There are particular concerns that this step will be beyond the capabilities of the many small producers who represent so much of the industry: just 18 producers farm more than 10 hectares.

Fortunately, the trade is reporting a boom in interest from the domestic market, which may buy producers some time in the short term.

Dr Jeremy Howard, CEO of online retailer Slurp, confirms: “We have seen a big increase in demand,” adding: “We are really focusing very hard on English wine.”

Hoping to capitalise on the fact that “other than Waitrose, there are very few retailers focusing on this area”, the retailer has upped its English range to 70 products.

Over at Enotria, communications manager Ben Smith reports “exponential growth”, noting also “more importantly, the acceptance amongst all our customers that English sparkling wine is on a par with its French counterparts; so that it really isn’t just a ‘nice to have’, but a proper wine in its own right. Critical acclaim and plenty of positive press have really helped too.”

With the Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee celebrations likely to inspire a patriotic peak in interest and hoards of foreign visitors, 2012 represents an opportunity which the English wine industry cannot afford to miss.