The owners of Nottinghamshire's newest vineyard will toast themselves in bubbles soon after Christmas when they launch their first sparkling wine.

William and Helenka Brown, owners of Hanwell Wine Estate, will unveil the results of their 2015 harvest knowing that even better could be on the way. While the "2015" is now bottled, the "2016" is steadily maturing and the recent harvest of 2017 has resulted in the biggest yield to date.

Why is that? "The vines are now five years old, and more established, the grapes are bigger and the quality of the bunches that have been allowed to develop is better," says Helenka. "The summer could have been warmer but there was enough sun and enough rain."

The fruits of the Browns' labours, grown on eight south-facing acres at Hickling Pastures, are Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier and Chadonnay – the classic blend of Champagne grapes.

Their core product cannot be described as Champagne but nowadays there is no shame in accepting the designation English Sparkling Wine: warmer weather, sympathetic terroir and technical expertise has produced bubbly that has won international awards, and French Champagne houses like Taittinger have been planting in the chalky South-East.

Kent, Sussex and Hampshire vineyards may be hogging the headlines, but climate change has pushed growing conditions further north and the Browns are determined to show that Nottinghamshire clay can do the trick.

Helenka can speak with confidence because she is the daughter of award-winning wine-makers Tony and Veronica Skuriat - creators of the delicious North Star dessert wine - whose vineyard in nearby Costock was once the most northerly in England; nowadays wine is made as far north as Yorkshire.

Read more at source Nottingham Post