On the eve of New Year reforms for the wine industry, English Sparkling Wine makers welcome the scrapping of outdated rules inherited from the EU.

The UK’s enjoys a longstanding status as a global wine trading hub, with a wine market worth over £10 billion last year, England and Wales have a fast-growing winemaking industry.

Now boasting almost 900 vineyards, hectares under vine in the UK have more than quadrupled since 2000. Viticulture – the cultivation and harvesting of grapes – is now Britain’s fastest-growing agricultural sector, employing around 2,300 people full time with a predicted 50% growth in jobs by 2025.

WineGB also reports 2023 is Great Britain’s largest-ever grape harvest, expected to produce an estimated 20-22m bottles and over 50% bigger on Britain’s previous record year in 2018.

Benefiting from perfect growing conditions in the south of England, – Kent sits on the same latitude as the French Champagne region, and enjoys the same chalky soil and the same climate – English Sparkling Wine has seen a surge in popularity in recent years with 8.3 million bottles produced last year. The home-grown fizz is expected to be a popular choice for Brits to see in the New Year.

From January 1st 2024, makers of English Sparkling Wine will no longer have to use mushroom-shaped stoppers and foil covers on bottlenecks, giving producers the choice to opt for simpler packaging to reduce both waste and costs.

Restrictions will also be scrapped on the making and selling of piquette – a lower-alcohol drink dating back to antiquity, made by extracting the remaining goodness from grapes left over after winemaking.

This will give producers the option to create new income streams and tap into consumer demand for lower-alcohol drinks.

In a move welcomed by wine traders, the government will also remove the requirement for imported wines to have an importer address on the label, reducing administrative burdens for businesses.

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay

Earlier this week, the government announced that businesses will be able to sell prepacked still and sparkling wine in 500ml and 200ml sizes as well as a new 568ml ‘pint’ quantity.

The reforms coming into force on January 1st follow this year’s Wine: reforms to retained EU law consultation on the overly complex and bureaucratic existing 400-page rulebook for wine. The changes aim to facilitate international trade and foster domestic innovation and growth.

Nicola Bates, CEO of WineGB

“We welcome the additional choice that comes from this first phase of actions from the wine reform consultation.

“There will be producers who are keen to take advantage of all and every option to reduce materials on bottles, so we can expect to see fewer foils on sparkling allowing you to celebrate that bit faster, and with an environmental benefit.

• The UK wine market was worth over £10 billion in 2022 in off-trade and on-trade sales, and the UK’s developing domestic production sector has attracted significant global investment.
• The UK is a global hub for wine. It is home to a diverse and dynamic wine sector and is the second largest importer of wine in the world by value.
• In 2022, off-trade sales of still, sparkling, and fortified wine via supermarkets, convenience stores, and specialist off-licences in the UK were worth around £7.6 billion, while on-trade sales through hospitality outlets were worth an estimated £3.5 billion.
• The domestic winemaking sector in England and Wales is by comparison very small, but rapidly growing and developing a global reputation for quality. Production reports for 2022 show a 36% increase in production. There has been a 74% growth in hectarage of vines between 2017 and 2022 (from 2257ha to 3928 ha).

Read also: UK plans to scrap retained EU red tape on wine to develop the sector

———————————————————————————————————————————–