'Turning point' for one type of English wine after hot 2026 summer

'Turning point' for one type of English wine after hot 2026 summer Expert David Jackson said it was creating an opportunity England may be famous for its sparkling wine, but the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 2026 could prove to be a turning point for another variety, an expert in wine has said. Around seven in every 10 bottles of English wine produced are sparkling, with the country's relatively cool climate helping vineyards make the high-acidity wines needed for fizz. But David Jackson, founder of fine wine marketplace Squelch, believes a combination of warmer temperatures and, crucially, drier summers is creating an opportunity for English vineyards to produce significantly more still red wine. Pinot Noir is one grape attracting particular attention. English producers including Bolney Wine Estate have already demonstrated that high-quality Pinot Noir can be made here, while Gusbourne is among those investing in English reds. David said: “The idea that England gets a degree or two warmer and suddenly becomes Burgundy is obviously far too simplistic. But something genuinely interesting is happening. “English wine's historic problem wasn't simply that it was cold. It was that it was cool, wet and incredibly unpredictable. You can have enough warmth to ripen grapes and then get a miserable August that brings disease and ruins the crop. “That is why 2026 could be so important. We've had an incredibly dry summer, as well as a warm one, and for red wine that combination potentially changes the conversation.” English wine production has already been expanding rapidly. Production increased by 55% during 2025 to around 16.5 million bottles, while vineyard registrations and the amount of land planted with vines have also been increasing. David cautions that climate change does not mean England's weather will simply become reliably warmer every year. Greater variability remains a major problem, with frost, heavy rainfall and disease all capable of damaging vineyards. Wet conditions are particularly problematic for red grapes, with diseases including botrytis and downy mildew thriving in humid conditions. But David believes increasingly frequent dry summers alongside rising temperatures could remove one of the biggest obstacles that has historically held English reds back. He said: “Pinot Noir needs enough warmth to ripen properly, but you don't necessarily need Mediterranean temperatures. One interesting comparison is Waitaki Valley in New Zealand. It's producing outstanding Pinot Noir despite being a genuinely marginal, cool-climate region. “Growing Degree Days are one way of measuring the amount of useful heat available to vines during the growing season. Waitaki sits at around 850. England now frequently gets above 800, whereas before 1990 that was exceptionally unusual. “So we're increasingly operating in a heat bracket where serious Pinot Noir becomes possible. The difference historically is that Waitaki has had the sunshine and dry conditions England couldn't depend upon.” David said England's changing climate therefore presents an opportunity, but there is no guarantee that today's sparkling wine regions will simply become tomorrow's great red wine regions. The celebrated chalk soils of Kent and Sussex are often compared with those found in Champagne, but soil suitable for sparkling wine does not necessarily provide the ideal conditions for still Pinot Noir. Bolney's Pinot Noir vines, for example, are planted on sandstone, while Gusbourne has found its red grapes perform better on clay than the chalk it uses for sparkling production. David said: “People love the story that Kent and Sussex share the same chalk seam as Champagne. That's true, but it doesn't follow that warming those soils up automatically gives you great red wine. “If you look at southern Champagne, where Pinot Noir dominates, you're often dealing with Kimmeridgian limestone and marl rather than the pure chalk associated with Chardonnay further north. That's what makes the next stage of English wine particularly exciting. The best places for English reds may not even be the vineyards we're currently talking about. They could be sites that haven't yet been planted.” There is also a considerable financial risk involved. Vineyards take years to establish and producers are effectively making decisions today about what Britain's climate and consumer market could look like well into the future. David nevertheless expects winemakers to embrace that uncertainty. He added: “Winemakers are frontier people by nature. If they see an opportunity, they'll take the risk and try to find a way of making it work. “England isn't suddenly going to stop being a cool-climate wine country, and sparkling wine isn't going anywhere. But warmer temperatures are closing the gap and, if hotter summers increasingly come with the dry and sunny conditions red grapes need, that could be the missing piece. “After a summer like 2026, I would absolutely expect more producers to be looking seriously at red wine. We may eventually look back on this as the period when English reds stopped being a curiosity and started becoming a serious part of the industry.”