Nyetimber

Nyetimber is where modern English sparkling wine begins. The estate appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, but its wine story starts in 1988, when the first Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines were planted in West Sussex, a then-eccentric decision that changed the course of English wine.

The soils are the same chalk and greensand that underpin Champagne, the vineyards now spread across Sussex and Hampshire, and every grape is estate-grown. Under winemaker Cherie Spriggs the house has collected honours few English producers can match; in 2018 she was named Sparkling Winemaker of the Year, the first woman and the first person outside Champagne to take the title.

From the Classic Cuvée to the rare 1086 Prestige Cuvée, named for that Domesday entry, these are the wines that made the world take England seriously.