English wine seems to be coming full circle. Vineyards were introduced to England by the Romans after their arrival in AD 43, but it was the Normans who developed viticulture and winemaking there after the Conquest. However, climate deterioration in the 12th century onwards brought viticulture to a halt, and as a result, English wines were replaced by claret wines from Bordeaux.
But today, the French connection plays a central role in the revival of English wine. Thanks to the active marketing activity of major English winemakers, English sparkling wine has become a favorite in the local wine market, and is produced using traditional methods followed in the Champagne region of France.
But the relations between the two regions do not end here. Since the climate of Kent today resembles that of Champagne 60 to 90 years ago, the former offers great expansion opportunities for the latter. Climate change and local land shortages mean it makes sense for producers in the Champagne region to buy property on the rolling hills of south-east England.
One of the pioneering companies was Champagne Taittinger, which acquired land near Chilham, Kent to establish a UK vineyard with its English partner, Hatch Masfield Ltd. Meanwhile, MDCV (1605), a brand owned by Monaco-based businessman Mark Dixon, had already established a wine production business in Provence when it bought vineyards in East Sussex and Kent.
Although changes in climate in the Southeast mean the Winkler Index — which is based on the sum of average daily temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius from April 1 to October 3 — is rising, says Natalia Bizon, one of the Directors stanlake park wayne. Estates in Berkshire indicate that the UK remains one of the world's finest viticultural regions.
Made grapes while the sun shines
More sunshine and warmer temperatures in southern England only means that cool climate winemaking is becoming more viable.
But sunlight isn't the only factor to consider: warmer temperatures due to climate change often come at the cost of more extreme weather events. To mitigate the risk of viticulture in such an unpredictable climate, full use must be made of both bioengineering and digital technology.
Currently, the predominant vine varieties grown in England are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which are the two main varietals in Champagne along with Meunier. However, winegrowers cannot sit back and relax until the grapes are ripe. It takes a lot of research and experimentation to create the ideal environment for fruit growth and wine fermentation in order to deserve the prestigious awards that English sparkling and still wines have received in the past two years.
This is where collaboration between scientists, leading winemakers and technologists comes into play, as well as a platform that brings all stakeholders together to create a testing platform.
National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB)
Founded in Cambridge in 1919, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) opened the world's first research and development vineyard in 2015 in East Mulling, Kent, with the aim of improving berry yields and fruit quality.
The experts selected to work at the Institute provide some knowledge relevant to the project. Dr. Mark Elsie, Head of the Department of Crop Science and Production Systems, is a researcher focused on addressing crop-environment interactions with a specialization in crop productivity in changing environments.
To bridge the gap between science and business and address the difficulties of knowledge transfer, NIAB created the position of Senior Director for Knowledge Exchange, which is currently held by Scott Raffle, who has worked in the UK fruit industry since 1990.
Professor Mario Caccamo, head of the Crop Bioinformatics Division at NIAB, and a computer scientist by training, is now CEO of the institute with a strong track record in researching how cutting-edge DNA technologies and bioinformatics – an interdisciplinary field of science using software to understand biological data – It can be applied to explore the interaction between crops and the environment.
Another expert who recently joined the NIAB management team is oenologist Dr. Belinda Kemp, who will apply her international experience in cold climate winemaking to the research project.
NIAB experts work in close collaboration with a consortium of leading British wine producers, such as Chapel Down, Gosbourne, MDVC and Nyetimber.
But other UK companies representing different aspects of viticulture and winemaking are also linked to NIAB, including irrigation specialist Netafim UK Ltd, agronomy and disease management expert Hutchinsons, and canopy support and training specialist Hampton Steel Ltd.
The Green Technology Center for Advanced Horticulture inaugurated by NIAB in May 2022 is a partnership program in innovative ideas for the food and beverage industry which in the long run is expected to act as a magnet attracting players from other industries as well to join the viticulture ecosystem.
Determining the optimal harvest date, for example, is crucial not only in viticulture but for strawberry production as well – another branch of UK horticulture with a steep growth curve showing a 600 per cent increase in the past 25 years.
The globe is the limit
Whether grown in the field or hydroponically, strawberries use different growing environments than vineyards. However, both products are berries, which means that some of the practices and technology already used in the ripe strawberry growing industry can be transferred to the emerging wine industry as well.
To increase productivity and fruit quality, new varieties and innovative systems had to be introduced into strawberry production as well. And solutions developed there, such as robots at the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), can be customized for new use cases in vineyards.
The robots, developed by LIAT in partnership with London-based online training data platform V7, and designed to monitor weather conditions and berry appearance to predict the ideal harvest date, could enable winegrowers to optimize harvest timing in order to obtain the ideal sugar balance. Levels and acidity.
IoT networks that can create the right moment for irrigation and fertilization – the application of fertilizer solutions – or for the filtration and fermentation process can not only enhance efficiency but also increase the environmental reliability of the industry.
The incredible success of English sparkling wine shows that this industry has huge potential. But this growing industry is also likely to drive innovation in crop genetics, agricultural technology and bioinformatics – sectors that are growing alongside the English wine industry as it explores new technological solutions.
At the moment, it is mostly the British who value domestic wine, while the export share is only about 7 percent. But if all the business sectors – both digital and traditional – involved in raising the profile of English vineyards and wineries stand shoulder to shoulder, British wine – not just sparkling but light whites and reds too – will have any chance of becoming popular abroad too. Instead of just being confused.
