Growing knowledge, growing production: UK brewing industry maturing | Food and drink industry

rightGrape vines dot the rolling hills of Dorset. Currently, they are waist-high and bare against the dull spring sky. Look up close and you can see they are already dotted with tiny hairy sprouts as they exit winter dormancy and enter a new growth cycle.

Come summer, the rows will be filled with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, ready for the latest batch of English sparkling wine from the Langham Estate near Dorchester.

Although the first vines were not planted on the former farmland until 2009, the estate is already producing award-winning wines that beat established European rivals.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind as a way to diversify and expand the business while also doing something more interesting,” said estate owner Justin Langham, standing in the on-site barn. “When I make wine, the yield per acre is many times greater than the wheat we grow.”

New growing methods and climate change made it possible to grow grapes on a commercial scale in the UK. “I don’t think we’re going to do what we did 40, 50 years ago,” Langham said.

However, the climate crisis has also created a series of challenges for Britain’s booming wine industry, including unreliable rainy summers Just like in 2024moisture can lead to problems like mold and disease and cause a huge difference from year to year.

Grapevines were first planted in England Roman periodbut vineyards can now be found from southwest England to Wales North to Yorkshire and Scotland. According to the latest figures, there are currently more than 1,100 registered in the UK, with the majority being commercial operators rather than hobbyists.

Although the UK still lags far behind among global wine producers – behind countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia – it is The world’s fastest growing wine regionAccording to property group Knight Frank. The area of ​​vineyard planted in the country has reportedly quadrupled since the turn of the century.

The Langham Estate is part of this boom, having almost tripled in size since 2009 to cover approximately 34 hectares (84 acres) of 1,000 hectares.

Increased wine production means the company has outgrown its converted farmhouse to store barrels and bottles, and it has just invested £2 million in a new winery, which is expected to be completed this summer.

Similar expansions across the UK led to a surge in wine production. However, yields remain difficult to predict and the wine produced one year can differ significantly from the wine produced the next, making it difficult to produce a standard product.

Hot, dry summer in 2025 helping UK and Welsh producers Their second biggest gain Equivalent to 16.5m bottles, or 124,377 hectoliters.

That’s more than three times the 5.3 million bottles produced in 2017, less than a decade ago, according to industry body WineGB.

However, this figure is lower than the bumper harvest of 21.6 million bottles recorded in 2023, as some vines are still recovering last year after a cold and wet 2024.

Changing weather patterns are also affected traditional wine regions – including Spain, Italy and Southern California – where harvests are expected to decline significantly. However, if climate change eventually drives the wine industry northward, producers are unlikely to achieve the current yields in existing wine regions.

Lower production levels than neighboring countries also mean that a bottle of British wine often costs significantly more than European alternatives.

UK wine production is expected to continue to rise in the coming years. The industry has previously said it expected annual production to reach 25 million to 29 million bottles by 2032, and predicted that the retail value of British and Welsh wine could reach £1 billion by 2040.

South-east England is home to more than half of the UK’s vineyards and around two-thirds of domestic wine comes from the region, particularly Kent, Sussex, Essex and Hampshire.

Nicola Bates, chief executive of industry body WineGB, said the young industry also benefited from winemaking experience.

“We have always been a center for the global wine trade, so we have people going to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa to understand how those markets work. Now they are bringing their expertise back to the UK,” Bates said.

“Year after year, you see the knowledge having a greater impact on our vineyards as they become more productive.”

All those grapes need to be picked and the finished product has to be bottled, marketed and sold.

The UK wine industry currently employs around 10,000 people, 3,500 of whom are employed full-time and others in labour-intensive seasonal work including picking grapes and pruning vines during the winter. This is a significant increase from the 2,200 full-time employees in the industry two years ago.

“We employ more people per hectare than any other agriculture industry,” Bates said.

There is growing demand for skilled professionals who can work in viticulture, winemaking and hospitality, with 90% of operators saying they intend to hire more staff within the next three years.

Some people considering a career in wine gain qualifications at Plumpton College in East Sussex, which is considered the UK’s center for winemaking training and offers a range of courses from a Certificate in Winemaking Technology to a Bachelor’s Degree. The college has its own vineyards and commercial winery, producing approximately 40,000 bottles of wine annually.

“Many people don’t realize that a career in wine can combine science, sustainability, business, travel and creativity,” said Sam Lint, chair of the wine department at Plumpton College. Roles across the industry include winemakers, vineyard managers, wine buyers, export managers and sommeliers.

Kym Downes, a first-year undergraduate viticulture and enology student at Plumpton University, didn’t expect to go on to higher education after completing her studies and starting a career in the hospitality industry.

One of the cafe’s regulars was a winemaker who inspired the 22-year-old to consider wine training.

“His passion for wine really rubbed off on me,” Downs said. “There are so many different avenues open to you. I could go into the winemaking side, but I could also go into the business side, or even lab work.”

Some believe the hands-on nature of many of these positions will insulate them from job losses caused by the rise of automation and artificial intelligence.

The course “takes you through a year of working in the vineyard,” she said. “We started harvesting grapes, then moved into vineyard maintenance, and we learned how to drive tractors and check equipment. When we went into winter, it was pruning season, and now it’s bud break season.”

After a long career as a GP and public health professor, Nick Steele is looking for a second move – turning his hobby into a job.

“I’m a wine drinker and enthusiast and became more fascinated by the world of wine and I wanted to learn how to make wine,” said the 61-year-old, who is in the final year of a foundation degree and plans to join the growing ranks of British winemakers.

“My goal is to set up an urban winery with some purchased grapes… I want to produce a commercially viable product that I can sell.”