Some might say that there is still not enough of a market for English wine to justify £100 bottles of wine just yet or that perhaps it is presumptuous of estates to try and corner the prestige cuvée market but there would be a strong counterargument to the effect that the creation and release of luxury single vineyard and multi-vintage blends with price tags to match is a sign of confidence in both the increasing quality of English vineyards and the wines they produce.

As it happens, when searching for the most expensive English wines it was clear that the great majority of Kent, Sussex or Cornish fizz is nowhere near as pricey as £100 or even £50 or £40 a bottle.

What does very quickly become clear though is that blanc de Blancs tends to be the most common style at this upper end of the English wine market?

Chardonnay is, of course, the grape responsible for some of the great prestige cuvées in Champagne and England’s South Downs shares the same seam of Upper Cretaceous chalk with the Cote de Blancs. Coincidence?

Of course, it’s always possible that in the variable English climate it’s simply the grape that continues to deliver the most consistent results.

There is no doubt, however, that as English wine gains in stature and quality we will see more of these top wines in future and there are always further developments in English wine.

The long-awaited Rathfinny estate will be launching its first wines soon and Boutinot-owned Henners in East Sussex has plans to roll out a multi-vintage blend later this year.

Read More at source: The Drinks Business