England's most significant and fastest-growing wine category — traditional-method sparkling wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grown on the chalk and limestone slopes of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Surrey. England's climate — cool temperatures, long slow ripening, high natural acidity, and chalk-rich soils nearly identical to Champagne's — is ideally suited to producing sparkling wine base wines of outstanding quality. English sparkling wine has defeated Champagne in multiple blind tastings since 2010.
| Year | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | — | Very warm year for England — Chardonnay achieved unprecedented ripeness. The best English Blanc de Blancs of the modern era from this vintage. |
| 2021 | — | Challenging spring frost reduced yields; summer recovery produced wines of excellent concentration in the surviving clusters. Quality high despite small harvest. |
| 2020 | — | Outstanding English vintage — cool, long growing season preserved exceptional natural acidity. Best English sparkling wines of the decade for long-term ageing. |
| 2018 | — | England's vintage of the decade — the warmest, driest growing season on record. Nyetimber and Gusbourne produced wines of Champagne-level complexity. Wines now at peak drinking. |