Nine wine trend predictions for 2016
7th January, 2016
by
Lucy Shaw
English sparkling rivals Champagne

This year looks set to be monumental for English sparkling wine as consumers and producers alike wake up to the fact that the quality of the wines coming out of England’s greatest estates is now on a par with top Champagne, as a recent blind tasting put on by Noble Rot proved.
The excitement reached fever pitch late last year when news emerged that Champagne house Taittinger would be the first in the French region to make fizz in England, having snapped up prized plots of land in Kent.
“English sparkling is within a whisper – by which I mean the next two years or so – of being taken just as seriously as Champagne; and the pace at which this has happened is incredible,” says BBR CEO Dan Jago.
“Before the 2009 vintage there was variable quality, but now the 2009, ‘10s and ‘11s are on the market and are looking brilliant. I’m hugely optimistic about what’s going to be possible in English sparkling wine going forward,” he adds.