Sales of English wine up 13% at Waitrose

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 31 May, 2016

Sales at Waitrose show that UK consumers are continuing to invest in home-grown wines, with sales increasingly year-by-year.

Sales at Waitrose show that UK consumers are continuing to invest in home-grown wines, with sales increasing year-by-year.

The data shows that still English wines are up 14 per cent year-on-year at Waitrose and shoppers are often choosing English sparkling wine over French and Italian rivals.

Sales of sparkling English have leapt 12 per cent from 2015.

Waitrose is believed to be the largest stockist of English and Welsh wines out of the multiples, with 50 different vineyards across 20 counties and 70 per cent market share.

This is good news for the domestic market during English Wine Week which runs until June 5.

The English wine industry is worth over £140 million pounds in retail sales and the growth in hectares of vineyards in England has increased by 140 per cent in the last decade alone.

Sales of English wine at Waitrose up 13 per cent as customers celebrate home-grown wines.

Family-run Black Dog Hill Vineyard in Westmeston near Ditchling in the South Downs is a new supplier to Waitrose.

The new additions to the Waitrose range also include an ice wine from Nottinghamshire, fizzes from Buckinghamshire and Herefordshire and a white from Staffordshire. Waitrose also introduced the new Leckford Brut 2013 vintage fizz which is from the supermarket's own vineyard in Hampshire.

Waitrose has added a dozen new English sparkling wines this year to keep with the rising popularity of English wines.

The expansion has mainly been made possible through the Waitrose Local & Regional scheme, where wines are stocked in branches 30 miles or less from their vineyards.

However, the whole range is also available nationally via the Waitrosecellar website.

Waitrose wine buyer Becky Hull, MW said: "We continue to introduce wines from new English vineyards for our customers to experiment and enjoy. English Wine Week is important to mark the growing industry and many of the English wines we stock come from small beginnings, so we are really proud to be so closely involved in the English wine industry at such an exciting time."

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