HAMPSHIRE

As the climate warms and the industry matures, Hampshire is proving to be one of the prime territories for producing some of England's most elegant and delicate sparkling wines

- SYLVIA WU

Centred around the cathedral city of Winchester, ancient capital of England, with the Isle of Wight off the coast to the south, Hampshire is known for the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, the mystic woodlands of the New Forest and three river valleys: (from west to east) the Test, the Itchen and the Meon.

These ancient, crystal-clear chalk streams are the veins and backbones of the county - shaping the landscape, nurturing farmland and offering clear, tranquil waters famed for fly-fishing.

Some of the region's well-exposed slopes, with their shallow topsoil and free-draining belemnite chalk - the same type found in Champagne's Côte des Blancs sub-region - are also home to ranks of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay vines, Champagne's three main varieties, that are now producing some of England's highest-quality sparkling wines.

Up to the challenge

Although Hampshire has a higher concentration of chalk, it isn't unique in England for this soil type - [Kent, Sussex and Hampshire] all share the terroir of the South Downs,' says Emma Rice, former head winemaker at Hampshire-based powerhouse producer Hattingley Valley and now an independent consultant. If anything, the county is hit first by the prevailing southwesterly weather before it reaches the counties further east, she explains.

Indeed, climatic markers point to challenges in achieving ripeness. In his 2023 harvest report for WineGB, viticultural consultant Stephen Skelton MW listed Hampshire's average growing degree days (a measure of heat accumulation during the growing season) for 2018-2023, and they were consistently lower than the average for Reims in Champagne.