English wines and open minds: a neighbourhood evening at Grape Britannia

English wine. For many of us, the phrase still raises an eyebrow. Could a Norfolk red really be worth drinking? Can a Welsh rosé compete with Provence? And wasn't champagne invented by the French?

These were among the questions 23 Riversiders took with them to Grape Britannia on Chesterton Road. By the end of the evening, after six wines, a history lesson and a lively vote for our favourite bottle, some long-held assumptions had been uncorked along with the wine.

Owners Matt and Natalie, who opened Grape Britannia seven years ago, have built a business around championing English and Welsh wines. Over the course of the evening, they guided us through six carefully chosen bottles and gave us a fascinating introduction to the British wine industry.

Many of us arrived with modest expectations. British wines are still something of a novelty and often taste quite different from the familiar European and New World styles we habitually buy. By the end of the evening, while few of us were ready to abandon our usual favourites, most agreed that the experience had broadened our horizons and challenged our palates in the best possible way.

One of the evening’s highlights was Matt’s explanation of sparkling wine production – and his challenge to one of the most enduring myths in wine history.

Champagne starts as still wine to which sugar and yeast are added, which produces the joyful parts - bubbles and more alcohol! Kept under pressure in bottles, over time the wine develops an additional layer of flavour as the yeast stops processing and falls to the bottom as “lees”. These can be left up to a decade to enhance the flavour. The lees are removed by very gradually turning the bottle and bringing it into a more upright position, which brings the lees into the neck. The old method would be to open the bottle to “disgorge” the lees, then the bottle is topped up and sealed. This, it turns out, is the reason for the foil at the top of a champagne bottle – to hide the variability in how well (or not!) the bottle has been topped up.  

And here's the controversy - was champagne actually discovered by the English? On 17 December 1662, Sir Christopher Merret presented a paper to the newly formed Royal Society entitled "Some Observations Concerning the Ordering of Wines". It is widely recognised as the first document to describe the deliberate addition of sugar to induce secondary fermentation and create sparkling wine – 35 years before the French monk Dom Perignon was credited with “discovering” the method. As Matt put it, the English are good at inventing, but the French are better at marketing.

Regardless, the British wine industry is now expanding rapidly. There are currently more than 1,100 vineyards, roughly double the number that existed when Matt and Natalie opened Grape Britannia. Yet there are only around 280 wineries, meaning that many producers buy in grapes and blend them rather than growing their own.

Around two-thirds of British wine production is sparkling wine, and major Champagne houses have taken notice, establishing vineyards and releasing English sparkling wines of their own.

Production remains small by international standards – about 15 million bottles annually compared with 300 million in Champagne and 500 million in Bordeaux – but British wine retains an artisanal character rooted in small growers and passionate producers.

Climate change has undoubtedly helped the industry, though frost remains the greatest threat. Matt also revealed an intriguing rule of thumb: recently, years in which the men's football World Cup took place produced excellent vintages. The outstanding 2022 vintage (the hot summer when Cambridge took the heat record and we all wilted in 40 degrees) joins 2018, 2014 and 2010 in that category.

Even the venue has its stories. Grape Britannia occupies the former home of Charles Mitcham, whose haberdashery business gave Mitcham’s Corner its name. Founded in 1909, the business gradually expanded into neighbouring properties before finally closing in 1977.

During renovation work, Matt and Natalie discovered the original fireplace hidden behind plasterboard and uncovered memories of the basement, which once served as Santa’s Grotto for generations of local children.

And so, to the wines.

We began with Ambriel Classic MV from West Sussex, a sparkling white made from the traditional Champagne grapes. Its high acidity and grapefruit notes gave it a bright, zesty character. Matt explained that this “zinginess” is becoming harder to achieve in Champagne itself as climate change raises temperatures, which is good news for the parts of England that sit on the same geology.

Next came Lyme Bay Chardonnay 2022, produced by a Devon company using grapes grown in Essex. Chardonnay may have suffered from the excesses of heavily oaked Australian examples in the past, but this English interpretation was much lighter, with subtle oak and vanilla notes and a creamy finish. We also learned that Grape Britannia celebrates International Women’s Day with tastings featuring wines made by female winemakers – of which this is one.

Perhaps the evening’s greatest novelty was Litmus Wines White Pinot Noir 2018. Although pinot noir is a red grape, removing the skins immediately after pressing produces white juice. The result was a more mature wine with woody, creamy characteristics and enough complexity to make it particularly popular with restaurants.

Our only Welsh entry was Y Lleidr 2025 from The Dell Vineyard in Monmouthshire. Described as both “quaffable and interesting”, this rosé offered notes of watermelon, peach, pear and honeysuckle. Established by a young couple in 2021, the vineyard named this wine “The Thief” after the blackbirds that made off with their first crop.

British red wines remain rare, but Winbirri Vineyard Signature 2020 from Norfolk demonstrated what can be achieved. Spicy and peppery, with a hint of coconut, it owes part of its character to ageing in American oak barrels rather than European oak.

Finally, we sampled Flint Vineyard Charmat Rosé, another Norfolk wine and perhaps the most joyful of the evening. Matt called it “luminescent”, and with its abundance of red fruit flavours it certainly lived up to the description.

And the vote winner is…

• Third place went to the opening sparkling wine, Ambriel Classic MV from West Sussex.

• Second place was awarded to the Welsh rosé, Y Lleidr from The Dell Vineyard.

• But the clear winner, with 13 votes, was Flint Vineyard Charmat Rosé from Norfolk.

Perhaps few of us are quite ready to make English and Welsh wines our go-to choices. But after an evening of surprises, stories and some remarkable bottles, we left with a new appreciation of Britain’s rapidly evolving wine scene – and perhaps with a few more open minds.