English Wine Kent Buckinghamshire

United Kingdom

Perhaps the Romans introduced viticulture to England, but, whether they did or not, they cannot be held responsible for introducing the grapevine itself, because archaeologists have found prehistoric remains of the pollen of vinifera vines at Marks Tey in Essex, as well as seed at Hoxne in Suffolk.

Wine continued to be grown in England during the 12th and 13th centuries. There were vineyards as far north as south Yorkshire, and the praise lavished on the wines of Gloucestershire by the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury demonstrates that English wine was no thin, sour plonk. Worcestershire, too, was renowned for its wine. This golden age of English viticulture was the result of a long period of warm summer weather, which started in the mid 11th century.

It ended abruptly in the 14th century, when the ocean currents changed and summers became wet and cloudy. Moreover, when on his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine Henry II acquired Gascony, and when King John (1199–1216) granted the citizens of Bordeaux numerous privileges in order to win their favour, Gascon wine became cheaper to buy for the English than any other wine, imported or home produced.

Today, the majority of UK vineyards are situated in the warmer southern counties with almost 80% of the 537 officially recorded vineyards and the 131 wineries located in the south east, the south, and the south west.

Source: Robinson, J (2015), Oxford Companion to Wine, 4th Ed. + www.englishwineproducers.co.uk

  • Harrow & Hope

    Harrow & Hope’s story began with Henry Laithwaite who is part of a family obsessed with wine. He met his wife Kaye whilst studying at Durham University, and following harvests in Australia and France, the couple decided to marry in 2008 and set up their very own vineyard.

    The soil is what defines Harrow & Hope’s long-term character. The soil is the greatest asset which is why the team look after it with organic nutrition and absolutely no herbicides. If they want to extract unique flavours from the vines then that requires them to be healthy, well-structured and in a balanced state to do so.

    Harrow & Hope’s single-vineyard sits on an ancient Thames gravel terrace. Being quite central and away from the coast the vineyard experiences high summer day temperatures with cooler nights that preserve precious acidity.

    *ORGANIC (IN CONVERSAION) VINEYARDS

    *AWARD-WINNING WINE

  • Folc Rosé

    Yes - dry, still rosé from England! This crisp, refreshing wine is made using 7 varieties sourced from family run vineyards across Kent and Sussex.

    Pinot Noir, Meunier, Chardonnay, Bacchus, Reichensteiner, Schonburger and Dornfelder are all used to produce this wine.

    FOLC follows the path of buying in fruit and then having a quality focussed wine maker create the wine which they want. FOLC, an Old English word meaning ‘people, tribe, family’ which I guess has led to the word ‘folk’, base their wine on a number of key criteria which are quality, sustainability, inclusion, transparency and movement.

    *HIGHLY SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED