2025 called ‘year of great momentum’ for English and Welsh wines

2025 has delivered what looks to be one of the best quality vintages seen by UK growers, WineGB said. The long, dry and warm growing season produced fruit, which was able to ripen fully, creating excitement especially for still wine producers. 

Ahead of harvest there was a lot of speculation that 2025 was going to be the best ever; early indications show that 2025 produced the ripest fruit with incredible quality and with yields in line with the 10-year national average. However, there can be considerable regional variability. 

2025 is expected to be the second largest in terms of volume, estimated to be between 15 and 16 million bottles. 

The early harvest is another key feature of 2025, with a few producers even starting in late August. Most started by mid-September, a full three weeks earlier than 2024, with growers having time to choose when to pick (unlike last year’s race against the weather and disease) and most finished in the first week of October. 

WinesGB said that 2025 has been a year of great momentum for English and Welsh wines. The quality being produced keeps getting better, reflected in the growing number of awards won by UK wines, and the interest from overseas markets.  

‘We are all hopeful of exciting times ahead’ 

The WineGB’s Golden 50 wine list illustrates some of the success being achieved, and export volumes are up 35%, on top of overall growth in the sector from 4% to 9% in 5 years. 

The initial 2025 harvest findings come from a voluntary annual survey of the whole sector sent out by WineGB, with the full data due to be released by the Food Standards Agency’s Wine Standards in March 2026. The provisional figures show the depth of engagement in quality metrics, building beyond the grape varieties and allowing WineGB to illustrate the fruit quality being achieved. 

WineGB CEO Nicola Bates said: “The sector has been secretly excited at the potential of this harvest. Our research is the first to review the whole nation, and our initial findings suggest that the anticipation is totally justified.  

“It brings joy at the end of such a busy year in which the sector’s resilience has been tested as a result of economic and political circumstances. We should take great optimism from the quality and scale of the harvest as the sector continues to prove itself and to take market share.  

“There is real interest in English and Welsh wines, and on the back of such a high-quality vintage, and from the hard work put in by our outstanding winemakers, we are all hopeful of exciting times ahead.” 

Harvest report author Stephen Skelton MW said: “Potentially this is the best year ever for still wine, especially from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the right sites, and we can expect some truly world-class wines from the top producers.  

“Sparkling wines will also be good and probably come to market sooner than wines from cooler years, which is no bad thing. We can also expect to see much better wines from the more marginal regions, which is good.” 

Read more vine news.