The revival of British sparkling wine, increasingly more popular among critics and consumers

God saves the Queen, but also sparkling wine: according to the last report by consultancy society Wine Lister, British sparkling wines are living their golden period, both from the point of view of quality (with awards by international critics collocating them immediately after Champagne), and of popularity with a growth of +11% of Google searches in December 2024. The study compares sparkling wine beyond the English channel with its major global competitors, i.e. Prosecco, Franciacorta, Cava, and Champagne. And, the results are surprising.
First of all, the report “Breaking new ground - The rise of English sparkling wine” analyzes the perception of international critics: the average scores for the cuvée which are representative of each region assigned by Decanter, Jancis Robinson, Vinous, and Wine Advocate were taken into consideration: British sparkling wines, with an average score of 90.6, are collocated immediately behind Champagne (90.8). Only after, Franciacorta (90.1), Prosecco (89.7), and Cava (88.9) arrive. A result, writes Wine Lister, “challenging the persistent perception of trade and consumers, according to which, the quality of British sparkling wine doesn’t measure up Champagne”. Then, global research volumes on Google about the three months (from October to December 2024) were analyzed, comparing English with Cava, Champagne, Franciacorta, and Prosecco. While Champagne overcomes clearly all the other denominations in terms of absolute research volume, it registered the lowest growth in the last 3 years with a drop of -15%. Also, Franciacorta and Cava registered a reduction of searches in the same period, even if only by -3% and -1%. In the meantime, denomination “English sparkling wine” was searched 11% more in December 2024 compared to the three previous years collocating behind only Prosecco (+13%). The peculiarity of British sparkling wine on the web is that its popularity reaches the peak in summer months, while all the other denominations follow seasonal fluctuations which are typical of premium wines with peaks in December. Therefore, British sparkling wine seems to be associated in the mind of consumers to summer consumption rather than to the celebrations of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Regarding price, data by Wine Searcher was implemented on 15 labels representative for each territory to create a regional index of prices between December 2021 and December 2024. Champagne registers the highest increase in prices (+21%), followed by Cava at +15%. British sparkling wine continues to grow in value, even if the increases in prices were stabilized starting from May 2023 between +5% and +9% with an average price of 32.47 pounds in December 2024. Even if Cava, Champagne, and Franciacorta overcome British sparkling wine in terms of price growth, only Champagne has a higher average price compared to British sparkling wine (18.06 pounds more in December 2024).
The second part of the study focuses on a qualitative survey among the best sommeliers and restaurant owners of the United Kingdom who shared their thoughts about British sparkling wine, and its growth potential. Many think that British sparkling wines are “strongly present in high quality activities”: most medium-high level restaurant owners has them in the wine list. Out of the 23 interviewed, 7 compared British sparkling wine to Champagne both in terms of quality and price. In the meantime, 4 underline the perceived inferiority of British sparkling wine: “it is not still in the same positioning of Champagne because price is the same, but consumers sometimes consider it a lower product”. Moreover, they underline that “price often overcomes that of Champagne. Therefore, hosts often go for Champagne basing on the familiar concept, and quality going with it”.
However, different interviewed people mention the growing push of tourism: visitors arriving to the Uk are more likely to try made in Uk sparkling wines. “Enotourism is not a growing sector with visitors attracted from vineyards for tours, tastings, and experiences. British sparkling wine can play a significant role in attracting tourists and giving impulse to local economies”. Among the weaknesses, the rapid expansion of vineyards and the increase of offer are, on the contrary, underlined, airing a risk of market saturation, particularly if demand won’t keep pace with that.