English winemakers expect ‘vintage year’ after record-breaking summer heat

Nyetimber vineyard in West Chiltington. Photograph: Bloomberg/ View image in fullscreen Nyetimber vineyard in West Chiltington. Photograph: Bloomberg/ English winemakers expect ‘vintage year’ after record-breaking summer heat Hot weather means sweeter grapes, but outlook gloomier for beermakers, as drought diminishes barley harvest English sparkling winemakers expect their earliest grape harvest and a “vintage year” after a scorching summer quickly ripened grapes. However, beer sellers have warned of a potential shortage after record-breaking temperatures and a drought hitting much of England has caused poor yields of barley. Nyetimber, which was the first producer in England to grow pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier exclusively for sparkling wine, has 11 vineyards in West Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. It has announced it will begin picking grapes on 14 September for this year’s harvest, the earliest since the company planted its first vines in 1988. The winemaker’s next earliest harvest was in 2018, when the first grape was picked on 19 September. Nyetimber said this harvest, for which it has recruited 500 pickers, will yield almost 2,500 tonnes of grapes, which could result in more than 1.5 million bottles of sparkling wine being produced from the 2026 vintage. ‘It’s a sun trap’: climate crisis brings boomtime for British wine Because of the late spring frosts, it is expected the harvest will be slightly smaller than usual, but that the large number of sunny days this year will have concentrated the sugar in the grapes, meaning 2026 could be a vintage year. The company’s first vintage was Blanc de Blancs 1992, which won numerous wine prizes. Nyetimber’s head winemaker, Cherie Spriggs, said: “This year brings another unprecedented vintage as we begin harvesting earlier than ever. We are excited to taste the fruits of our labour, which as always has come with certain challenges: late spring frosts that affected almost 30% and the summer drought, which has decreased the size of certain berries. However, the hot and sunny weather has helped to balance out these factors, giving us strong potential for fantastic wine quality.” Though winemakers are celebrating, the outlook is gloomier for beer aficionados. Lisa Hogan, who runs the Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire with her partner, the TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, has said there may be “less beer all around” after extreme weather led to a poor barley harvest. View image in fullscreen Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire is run . Photograph: Stephen Dorey/AlamyThis summer was the UK’s hottest on record, according to provisional Met Office data.