Raise a glass to the best English wines in a decade

English wine growers are celebrating a bumper harvest – and the promise of one of the best vintages in a decade. Weather conditions over the past nine months have been ‘close to perfect’ for most vineyards, with a hard winter, mild spring and hot June combining to produce a tasty grape crop. Some vineyards say 2010 wines, which will be sold from the spring, are on course to be the best yet.

The good harvest will add even more credibility to English growers, who have picked up top awards for white and sparkling wine in recent years. Fraser Thompson, of the largest producer of English wines, Chapel Down in Tenterden, Kent, said: ‘It’s been a really decent year and one of the best harvests in a decade.

‘This year we have the potential to produce some of the best wines we have ever made.’Julia Trustram Eve of English Wine Producers said: ‘Vineyard managers have needed to keep their eye out for mildew in the wet weather of the last few weeks, but they are pleased about the quality of grapes.’

England produces around three million bottles of wine each year. Chardonnay is the most commonly grown grape. Earlier this year, Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvee 2003, made in Sussex, was named best bubbly in the World Sparkling Wine Championships.