Great Britain is a premium wine-producing region, with around 650 vineyards in England and Wales covering some 2,750 hectares and producing sparkling and still wines. English and Welsh wines have won many prestigious awards recently and Stephen Skelton is the leading authority on the wines of the UK.

The Wines of Great Britain is a comprehensive survey of the history of UK wines, as well as of the current state of the wine industry and its future prospects. After a short introduction showing where UK wine is in 2019 and where it might go in the future Skelton considers the history of winemaking in the UK from King Alfred in the fifth century, through the medieval period to recent developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Wines of Great Britain then takes us on a tour of contemporary viticulture and winemaking, examining trends in plantings and vineyard layout, varieties, rootstocks and clones, vineyard sizes, modern wineries and styles of wine. Skelton considers regional identities as well as the branding of UK sparkling wines and their market position.

A substantial part of this important book is the 21 detailed biographies of the most important, exciting and innovative producers and the wines they create. Wine businesses profiled in detail include Breaky Bottom, Chapel Down, Nyetimber, Oxney Organic Estate, Sixteen Ridges Vineyard and Yorkshire Heart Vineyard. Shorter entries on other significant or up and coming producers also feature.

About the Author

Stephen Skelton has been involved with growing vines and making wine since 1975. He is the English and Welsh vineyards contributor to Hugh Johnson's and Oz Clarke's annual wine guides and wrote the sections on English and Welsh wine in the 7th edition of World Atlas of Wine and the 4th edition of Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine. Stephen was a director of the English Vineyards Association and of its successor organisation, the United Kingdom Vineyards Association, from 1982 to 2003.

Reviews
The Wines of Great Britain is an academic and comprehensive guide which provides a great reference work for the past 2000 years of wine production history in the UK, and lends us Stephen Skelton's personal view of where it might go in the future. A must-read for anyone currently working with, or aspiring to work with, the growing production of wines and sparkling wines coming from England and Wales. - Amanda Barnes, Circle of Wine Writers, The Circular



Book Information
ISBN 9781913141783
Author Stephen Skelton
Format Paperback
Page Count 310
Imprint ACADEMIE DU VIN LIBRARY LIMITED
Publisher ACADEMIE DU VIN LIBRARY LIMITED
Weight(grams) 496g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 20mm