English Wine: Five Things to Know About Hampshire's Wine Region

Get to know Hampshire, England’s chalkiest wine region, known for its top quality sparkling wines, with some 380ha of vineyards planted across the rolling hills around Winchester.

For all the talk of chalk in the UK, not many regions have access to this much sought-after soil, yet we’re lucky here in Hampshire to have many contiguous areas with this prehistoric bedrock for our vines to reach deep into.

“It’s a big part of why the wines are so fresh and precise,” explains Corinne Seely, our head winemaker at Exton Park. “It’s a key element to our identity.”

Chalk Country

Centred around the city of Winchester, we have the largest contiguous stretch of chalk-based soils in the entire country. It’s perhaps no surprise that so many ambitious winemakers have made Hampshire their home, ourselves included!

Cool temperatures, chalk soils and fresh breezes are a throwback to an earlier age, when sparkling wines were more focused, chiselled and fresh. A vibrancy from the crumbling, chalky layers permeates throughout the wines, giving us an enviable niche in an increasingly warm world.

Rolling hills

More than half of Hampshire’s wine estates are based on the South Downs, directly in the centre of the county. These scenic hills are defined by the highest concentration of chalk soil in the region, which, along with the variation of aspect and microclimates on the slopes and pockets of the gently rolling countryside, has made it a very attractive location for producers searching for premium vineyards.

“It’s a challenge to grow grapes here,” remarks Fred Langdale, our vineyard director at Exton Park. “Yields are low, but the quality of the fruit is worth the effort.”

Cool climate

Hampshire is one of the coolest wine producing regions in the UK, which brings its own set of challenges in our vineyards, but also allows for a slow ripening period that extends into the autumn.

Fresh sea breezes from the English Channel, little more than 10 miles away from our own vineyards, promote healthy vines and accentuate the drop in temperature towards the harvest season.

This is a highly prized feature of the region, as the gentle maturation of grapes in the autumnal sunshine contributes a high level of natural complexity in our wines.

Champagne grapes

Comparisons to Champagne are perhaps inevitable, and with the concentration of chalk soils, particularly to the Côte des Blancs.

The large plantings of Chardonnay do nothing to diminish these comparisons, though we believe Meunier to be the grape best suited to the region, where it seems to thrive on these Cretaceous soils. Cooler temperatures help to accentuate its acidity and refine its fresh, red fruited characters.

“In Champagne, Pinot Meunier is practically never grown on the best plots of chalk, so it never gets the chance to shine,” says Fred. “Here, we have planted it on some of the very best vineyards available.”

A buzzing scene

Since the first modern vineyard was planted over 70 years ago, 38 wineries have sprung up across the Hampshire hills, including some of the most famous names in the UK wine scene.

With such a strong collective identity and uncompromising quality across many of these increasingly renowned estates, it’s easy to see why Hampshire is fast becoming the hotspot for premium English sparkling wine.

For visitors to the region, its proximity to major cities such as London, as well as its unspoilt natural beauty, make Hampshire an appealing choice for wine tasting and events.