2023: a bumper year for English wine?

A story has been doing the rounds that English wine is in for a ‘bumper crop’ in 2023 - but it’s not strictly true.

It’s a truism about newspapers that if you really know about a subject, then most news stories on that particular subject will be wrong, miss the point or be strangely slanted. It doesn’t always hold true but it happens enough to make me ask ‘what’s really going on here’ when reading the news. 

One such story happened this month about the 2023 English wine vintage. There was a headline in The Times entitled “English winemakers say cheers to a soggy summer.” The article was full of quotes from producers saying how good 2023 was going to be: Mark Driver from Rathfinny was particularly effusive saying “Things are looking good, we are expecting our biggest harvest to date” while Andy Hayes from New Hall in Essex said: “It does genuinely seem like we are in a good place;. Everything is lined up. It’s hard to see it going wrong from here, but I may live to regret those words!”

While reading the story, I couldn’t help thinking of the nervous conversation I had had the week before with one local producer in Kent. Yes there are lots of tiny grapes on the vine so if they could all be ripened then it might be the vintage of the century but that’s a big if. The rainy July wasn’t the end of the world but if we don’t have a hot dry August and September then many producers will be in trouble. The grower I spoke to was debating cutting some bunches off so that he would have a better chance to ripening what was left. Former Decanter editor Guy Woodward reacted to the Times story in a similar way: “This is pretty much the opposite of what I found on a two-day tour of Sussex wineries last week.” 

At my London book launch on 15 August hosted by Kentish winery Balfour at Balfour St. Barts in Smithfields, there was much talk while sipping the excellent Balfour 2019 Blanc de Noirs about how such a story came about. One wine industry veteran thinks that it began on the Essex section of the BBC News website from 10 August. It’s a lot more measured than The Times article: “English wine producers are hoping this year's mixed summer weather could lead to a bumper crop of grapes to help the growing industry,” it reads. There’s lots of ‘ifs’, ‘coulds’ and ‘hope’ , and nobody is saying that 2023 is going to be the vintage of the century. Andy Hares from New Hall said: ”If we continue to get these lovely warm, sunny days, we should be on for a pretty spectacular yield.” While Belinda Brown from Stonyfield vineyard in Blisworth, Northamptonshire said: "We've got loads of grapes, but whether they will turn into a really good, ripe harvest by end of September, early October, which is when we harvest, is still a bit early to say." 

The following day The Times ran with: “English winemakers say cheers to a soggy summer” which isn't the view of anyone I have spoken to. I was on Times radio last Saturday (at 2:07 if you want to listen) and the first thing the interviewer Hannah MacInnes said was I hear we’re going to get a ‘bumper crop’ and was amused when I said the story was strictly true.

As I write these words it is grey and overcast in Kent, yesterday it poured with rain all day and according to the weather forecast it looks like it’s going to be damp and warm for the next few weeks, perfect breeding ground for fungi which can wipe out a crop of grapes overnight. Rather than a bumper year like 2022, we might be on for another 2021 - the year where we didn't really have a summer. Brad Greatrix, winemaker at Nyetimber, commented: “On track to be a ‘wheat from chaff’ sort of year for vineyard and winery teams. As challenging as ‘21 but likely a bit riper.” If I was a grower I wouldn’t be toasting a bumper vintage quite yet.

I’m going to be at Waterstone’s Canterbury on Wednesday 30th August from 6:30pm talking about Vines in a Cold Climate with local wine merchant Corkk offering samples and glasses of wine to buy. Please do come down. Click on link to buy a ticket.