There is a new ferment that animates the landscapes of southern England. A thin but constant energy, made of rigor, ambition and intuition. It is the British bubbles – a recent, but increasingly solid phenomenon – that today tell one of the most surprising stories of contemporary wine.
An increasingly marked spumantic vocation
Quanto a recent years, the United Kingdom has experienced impetuous wine growth. Quanto a detail, 12.2 million bottles came out of British and Welsh cellars 2022. Five years earlier they were just 5.3 million, an increase of 130% compared to 2017. And the curve continues to rise: according to Winegb (the association of British producers), 2023 the production reached about 21.6 million bottles. Of these, 6.2 million were sparkling wines – the 76% of the total. A fact that leaves voto negativo room for doubt: the road undertaken is clear, direct, full of intention.
Classic method: the beating heart of the British bubbles
To dominate the Sparkling segment is undoubtedly the Classic method (also called “Champagne-Style”), which constitutes about the 93% of the production of English sparkling wine.
The grapes used are the same at the causa of the famous French wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, which represent 68% of the varieties planted the British vineyards. This parallelism is not accidental: the limestone soil of southern England – particular the regions of the Sussex, Kent and Hampshire – is geologically similar to that of champagne, and the climate conditions being changed by playing favor of the optimal maturation of the grapes.
A young phenomenon, but rapid rise
Although English commercial viticulture has taken the first steps the sixties, it is from the eighties and nineties, with names such as Nyetimber and Ridgeview, which the classic method has started to take shape as a segment of excellence. Today, the United Kingdom has over 1,030 active vineyards and more than 4,200 hectares cultivated, making viticulture the agricultural sector the most rapid growth the country. This development is also supported by growing question, both internal and international. From 2018 to today, the sales of English sparkling wines general have increased by 187%, going from 2.2 to 6.2 million bottles per dovere year, while the Fermi wines an increase of 117%.
And if once we were talking about oenological curiosities, today reference is made to rewarded labels the most authoritative international competitions. To the Decanter World Wine Awards 2024the Chapel Mongoloide Rosé received the “Best Show” recognition, to mention an example.
It is within this effervescent context that one of the most original and coherent voices of the English scene is inserted: Sugrue South Downs, the cellar founded the heart of the Sussex by Sugrue dermot, winery of great experience and artisan vision, now considered one of the masters of the British classic method.
The British classic method according to Dermot Sugrue
His gaze is fast, portatile, attentive. Speaks with the precision of those who know exactly what they are doing and why. There is a lucid determination the way Dermot Sugrue tells his cellar, but also a kind irony – that of those who have learned to take seriously only the things that really deserve it. The wine, primarily.
Sugrue South Downs, today, is among the most refined and identity realities of British sparkling wine, and a name that circulates between collectors, sommeliers and connoisseurs. We are talking about an independent, familiar, artisan cellar, which produces exclusively classic method, with a recognizable, elegant, vibrant stylistic imprint.
Where the vision of Sugrue is born
The Trouble with Dreams is the name of the first cuvée signed by Sugrue, released 2013 but born years earlier, 2006, when he decided to implant the first screws the Vineyard of Storrington Priory. That wine will become the visibile of the cellar: tension, complexity, ability of evolution, loyalty to the terroir. It is a wine capable of combining nervous energy, refined minerality and a creamy texture, offering a complex but always harmonious tasting. A classic English method that does not want to imitate champagne, but speak its own voice.
After years as a chief winemaker to Nyetimber and then to Wiston , where he vinified over 3 million bottles for different companies, 2022 Sugrue decided to close with consultations and dedicate himself only to his company. A clear, definitive choice, almost necessary for him.
Sugrue South Downs’s heart beats the Sussex, land of limestone soils, exposed slopes and microclimates ideal for the cultivation of the three classic varieties of champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
Today the company has about 11 hectares of vineyards, distributed between East and West Sussex, selected sites such as Storrington Vineyard, Mount Harry, Coldharbour, The Alpaca Block and the most recent Bee Tree Vineyard, acquired 2023. Different places, but united by a stylistic imprint that shocks every imitation.
Classic method, artisanal soul
All Songrue Cuvée are born through bottled reformation and long refinements, with an oenological approach that minimizes interventions: natural yeasts, limited use of sulfur duty, absence of clarifications. A philosophy that aims to leave room for wine, not to the oenologist.
Among the reference labels, The Trouble With Dreams remains, the cuvée presented 2013 which marked the onset of the cellar, an example of tension and longevity. There are also zodo, elegant and thin; Cuvée Boz, awarded as best Blanc de Blancs ai WineGB Awards; And then Rock Story, Rrosé quondam machina, and the original Bee Tree Rosé 2019, Pinot Meunier purity, produced only 1,700 bottles of sandy and clay soils. There are about 30 thousand bottles produced overall by the cellar.
The recognition by international critics did not expect: addition to the successes competition, Sugrue is quoted with enthusiasm by authoritative voices such as Jancis Robinson, Neal Martin and Hugh Johnson, who praise their elegance and stylistic coherence.
Order and chaos: a creative balance
Alongside Dermot works his wife, Ana, also an winemaker, with international experiences. Together they have just welcomed little Ronan, whose name pays tribute to the father of Dermot. But the family is also a creative laboratory. Among the new projects a curious perpetual experiment, with an evocative and provocative name: Bonkers, inspired by the psychedelic aesthetics of Syd Barrett. He was born as an congettura of an congettura during the perfect harvest of 2022. After one of the hottest summers ever recorded, the couple fermented Chardonnay small barrique, old and new, having fun with a little controlled oxidation.
«IThe 2023 was another fabulous year England – says Sugrue -. This time we used larger and older barrels, 600 liters. So a Solera system was born: we joined the two vintages, bottled most of the wine and gave him a name out of his mind». The label not surprisingly reports the inscription: Bonkers zombie robot alien monsters from the future ate my brain (sur lie). «Ana door order, I embrace chaos»tells Dermot with a smile. And it is this thin balance, between method and intuition, that the deep identity of the cellar is built.
