The English wine industry is growing and there will be many more people working in the industry in 20 years’ time. There are various different opportunities that branch out from growing vines and these include wedding venues, wine tastings and restaurants as well as working in the wineries and the vineyards.

It is a risk to enter the industry because it can be an expensive venture.

The hospitality sector was hit hard during the pandemic, how do you think the English wine industry was impacted?

At the beginning of the pandemic, many were worried, they were sat on lots of stock and weren’t allowed any visitors. However, during the first lockdown, consumers started purchasing wine online to drink at home whilst choosing to support local businesses. And as we eased ourselves out of lockdown, you could visit local vineyards even with social distancing in place so awareness of English wine grew during the pandemic.

The biggest challenge is the climate – you need long warm growing periods with no late frost when buds are bursting. In England, we have a cooler climate which is why they make such brilliant sparkling wine.

Another challenge is price as English wine is so expensive – it isn’t mass produced and most of the wine comes from smaller vineyards. However, the quality of English sparkling wine is high. It is every bit as good as champagne and is a treat, but really worth it!

It is important that it is promoted well and people like myself can really highlight how fantastic English wine is.

Making sparkling wine is a long process and can take years to produce. 2018 saw a long hot summer / autumn, the perfect climate for growing and producing good quality sparkling wine. It became known as ‘vintage of the century’ and the wines from this year are among the ones now coming onto the market and they stand out to me.

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