Hot weather means sweeter grapes, but outlook gloomier for beermakers, as drought diminishes barley harvest
English sparkling winemakers expect their earliest grape harvest and a “vintage year” after a scorching summer quickly ripened grapes.
However, beer sellers have warned of a potential shortage after record-breaking temperatures and a drought hitting much of England has caused poor yields of barley.
Nyetimber, which was the first producer in England to grow pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier exclusively for sparkling wine, has 11 vineyards in West Sussex, Kent and Hampshire.
It has announced it will begin picking grapes on 14 September for this year’s harvest, the earliest since the company planted its first vines in 1988. The winemaker’s next earliest harvest was in 2018, when the first grape was picked on 19 September.
