‘Best of British’ may not be all it seems when talking about wine!

If someone says ‘Best of British’ it often fosters a sense of patriotism, it makes you think of something home-grown, sustainable, supporting local communities and delivering a lower carbon footprint. So it’s surprising that the term ‘British’ doesn’t necessarily mean those things when applied to wine!

‘British’ wine can mean a cheap type of wine made from imported grape concentrate but bottled in the UK and it’s why you’ll often see our home-grown wines labelled as English or Welsh. This was a big talking point back in the 2010s and has left some very keen to make the distinction. Hopefully things have moved on and a recent campaign from Hampshire vineyard Hattingley Valley with the strapline ‘unapologetically British’ shows they are not shying away from a term, that without knowing the history, you would just assume means all the things that are great about being British.

At Best British Bubbly we’re certainly embracing the term positively and want to help people discover vineyards to visit across Great Britain where you can see the grapes being grown and experience the wines they produce at the cellar door.