Many of the nation`s 470 vineyards will be holding tastings to celebrate the triumph of some `champagnes` that even beat French brands during English Wine Week .

The success of UK wines – whose production has grown by 50 per cent between 2010-2014 – is encouraging more people to have a go at running a vineyard, helped by rising temperatures (especially longer, warmer autumns) and growing expertise in the market.

Vineyards can vary from between a few acres to large commercial wineries like the award-winning Denbies, in Surrey, and Nyetimber in West Sussex, but there`s certainly an appetite for them among wine-lovers seeking an escape from the corporate world.

`It`s a lifestyle thing. Some people hit middle age and think we have worked hard, we have an interest in wine, so let`s buy a home with a vineyard,` says Paddy Pritchard-Gordon of agent Knight Frank. `A lot of work goes into it so most people are doing it for fun rather than trying to make lots of money from it.`

For Kristin Syltevik and her partner Paul Dobson, a former golf professional, it was a holiday spent in the vineyards of Bordeaux that galvanised their decision to buy a farm and set up an organic vineyard in 2009. Oxney Organic Estate near Rye in East Sussex planted its first vines in silt in 2012, produced their first vintage (still rosé) in 2014, and their first sparkling wine this year.

Full article can be found at source uk.finance.yahoo.com