The quality of a wine is highly dependent on the quality of the grapes used to make it. The quality of the grapes is further governed by their variety, the soil, the weather during the growing period and the time of harvest. The grapes are usually harvested in autumn.

Harvesting can be regarded as the first step in the wine making process. Grapes are picked from the vineyard and transferred to the winery in open bins. Grapes can be either harvested by hand or by using machines. However, harvesting grapes by hand ensures that only the best grapes reach the winery.

After the harvest, the grapes are transferred to a destemmer/crusher where the stems are separated from the grapes and the grapes are crushed. After de-stemming and crushing, the grape juice is poured into fermentation vats, where yeast converts most of the sugars in the grape juice into alcohol. This procedure is called primary fermentation and takes about one to two weeks.

After the primary fermentation, the resulting liquid is poured into vessels for secondary fermentation, where the wine becomes clear as the residual sugars are slowly converted into alcohol. After fermentation, some wines are allowed to age in oak barrels or stainless steel tanks, while other are bottled directly.

A winemaker, or vintner, may follow variations on the above procedure depending on his/her target wine style. For instance, with sparkling wines such as Champagne, carbonation (trapping carbon dioxide to create bubbles) takes place inside the bottle. After ageing, the wines are filtered to stabilize them.

The last stage in the wine making process is blending and bottling. This is when the winemaker may rectify inadequacies by mixing wines from different batches in order to achieve the desired aroma and taste. Before bottling, a measured quantity of sulfite is added as a preservative and to prevent undesired fermentation inside the bottle. The wine bottles are then sealed with a cork or screw cap.

Albesco – A white wine with complex flavours and a hint of Gewurtztraminer (a white grape grown predominantly in France, USA, Germany, Australia and New Zealand).

Atlantic Dry – A white wine with a dry and fresh finish. Atlantic Dry is a well balanced, aromatic and complex wine made from a long, slow and cool fermentation process.

Breaky Bottom Muller Thurgau – A white wine made from a variety of grapes called the Muller Thurgau.

Breaky Bottom Seyval Blanc – A white wine with a dry and flinty finish.

Chapel Down (Bacchus) – A white wine made from slow and long fermenting of the Bacchus grape using the new world wine making methods. Skin contact and cool fermentation ensure an aromatic and crisp finish.

Chapel Down (English Rose) – A rose wine made with redcurrant fruit and a hint of strawberry.

Cuckmere – A light, medium dry white wine with an abundance of ripe fruit flavours.

Denbies Redlands – A rich, full bodied and dry red wine that is deep crimson in colour with berry fruit characters.

Denbies Rose Hill – A rose wine with strawberry and raspberry summer fruit flavours.

English Kir Royale – A mix of English sparkling wine and crème de cassis.

Estate Reserve Siegerrebe – A classic white wine with a spicy aroma.

Lamberhurst Rondo – An unoaked white wine with hints of cherry, bramble and damson.

Valley Red – A red wine made from summer fruits and a hint of Rioja.

During the time of the Normans, English wine making was no more a rarity, owing much to the fact that the Normans required wine for Mass. As the Domesday Book mentions, there were over 40 vineyards in England at that time. Wine was also required by churches and monasteries for sacramental purposes, so they often built grapevines on their land.

English wine making suffered its first setback in 1152, when King Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitania (a French area now known as Bordeaux). This resulted in the establishment of trade links with Bordeaux and the English market became a major customer of clarets from that region in France. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, of the late 1340s resulted in the death of several wine estate workers, and hence attributed to a further decline in English wine making. In the late 1530s several monasteries were dissolved by King Henry VIII. Therefore, wine production at those monasteries came to a halt.

During the early 1700s, with English wine making being brought to a standstill, the English became a major consumer of fortified wines like port wine and sherry from Spain and Portugal. In the late nineteenth century, as part of the revival of the Cardiff Castle, a vineyard was re-established which continued producing wine up until 1920. Wine production in the UK completely ceased during the period from the end of the First World War to shortly after the end of the Second World War.

English viticulture was revived in the 1970s. Aided by a rising local temperature due to global warming, climatic conditions in many parts of Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and Berkshire, among others, became conducive to growing high quality grapes. English wine making got a boost in the late 90s, owing to the growing popularity of wine in other parts of the world.

According to the Wine Standards Board, there are currently over 350 vineyards producing wine throughout England. The largest of these is the Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey with 265 acres under vine. English wine making has surely come a long way.