Chapel Down Brut
The everyday sparkling wine from one of England’s biggest producers, and the easiest of these to find.
Visit Our guide to Chapel Down
The short answer
- How good is English wine? Its traditional-method sparkling wine is among the best in the world. Its still wines are good and improving, and are strongest in the middle of the market.
- English sparkling vs Prosecco: different drinks. Prosecco is made in tanks from Glera and costs a third or less of the price; English sparkling is made like Champagne.
- Bacchus vs Sauvignon Blanc: Bacchus is the English answer to Marlborough Sauvignon, more hedgerow and elderflower, made in tiny quantities by comparison.
- English Pinot Noir vs Burgundy: light, fresh and sappy. It does not compete with top Burgundy, but the best are very good.
- Best English still wine: Chardonnay, which experts rate as the most reliable English still grape.
English sparkling vs Prosecco
These are different drinks. Prosecco is made mainly from the Glera grape in north-east Italy, and gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in large pressurised tanks, which can take as little as 30 days. The result is all about fresh white fruit and flowers. English sparkling wine is mostly made by the traditional method, fermented again in each bottle and then aged on the yeast, often for years, from Chardonnay and Pinot.
The price shows it. In October 2026, Waitrose Cellar sold its own Prosecco DOC at £8.50 and San Leo Prosecco at £10, while Chapel Down Brut was £31 a bottle by the case from Chapel Down and Nyetimber Classic Cuvée £43 at Waitrose Cellar. For a spritz, a big party or a bottle to open on a Tuesday, Prosecco is the sensible buy.
Choose English when the wine is the point of the occasion and you want something dry, complex and made to age.
English sparkling vs Cava and Franciacorta
Both are made by the traditional method, like English sparkling wine. Cava is mostly a blend of Spanish grapes, Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada, with at least nine months on its lees; it is generally softer and earthier, and it is cheap: Waitrose’s own Cava Brut was £8.50 in October 2026. Franciacorta, from Lombardy, is closer to England in grapes, using Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco, and must spend at least 18 months on its lees. It is usually rounder and riper than English fizz.
English sparkling sits nearer to Champagne than either, with more acidity than Franciacorta and more precision than everyday Cava. We still think good Cava Reserva is one of the best-value sparkling wines anywhere.
Choose English when you want the Champagne style. Choose Cava when value matters most.
English vs Tasmania and Australia
Tasmania is England’s closest relative in the southern hemisphere. It has the lowest mean January temperature of any Australian wine region, 15.6°C, and Wine Australia calls its traditional-method sparkling, made mainly from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the best in Australia. Tasmanian fizz is usually a little riper and fruitier than English; both have the high natural acidity of a cool climate.
For still Chardonnay, Susie Barrie MW, who chaired Decanter’s panel tastings of English and Welsh wine for three years, puts the sweet spot for English still wine “right in the middle”, competing with high-end New Zealand or Australian wines.
Choose English when you want a leaner, more saline style, or something grown closer to home.
Bacchus vs New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
If you drink Marlborough Sauvignon, Bacchus is the English grape to try. It was bred in Germany in 1933 from Silvaner, Riesling and Müller-Thurgau, and in England it gives elderflower, nettle, lime and gooseberry, close to Sauvignon Blanc but greener and more hedgerow. Marks & Spencer’s wine buyer says its best-selling English white is Bacchus because customers like its Sauvignon-like aroma and acidity.
The difference is scale. Sauvignon Blanc makes up 72% of New Zealand’s wine production, with more than 22,000 hectares in Marlborough alone; the UK grows 334 hectares of Bacchus. Marlborough is far easier to find. Bacchus also varies by vintage: Matt Hodgson of the specialist merchant Grape Britannia found many 2022s green, and the 2021s and 2023s fresher.
Choose English when you want something lighter and more delicate than Marlborough. For value and consistency, we think Marlborough still wins.
English Chardonnay vs Burgundy and the Loire
Chardonnay is the UK’s most planted grape, and increasingly its best still wine. In Decanter’s first panel tasting of English and Welsh still wines in 2024, all but two of the Chardonnays scored 90 points or more, and the only wine rated Outstanding was Chapel Down’s Kit’s Coty Chardonnay. The panel asked for more unoaked, moderately priced, Chablis-style wines alongside the oaked ones.
Against white Burgundy, England’s best are close in style to good village wine: taut, citrus and mineral. Barrie is clear that English wine cannot yet compete with Grand Cru Burgundy. If you drink Sancerre, which is always Sauvignon Blanc, an unoaked English Chardonnay or a dry Bacchus has the same freshness.
Choose English when you like Chablis and want something different at a similar price. For great white Burgundy, there is no English substitute yet.
English Pinot Noir vs Burgundy
This is where England is least proven. Pinot Noir is the UK’s second most planted grape, but 69% of English and Welsh wine in 2024 was sparkling, and much of the Pinot goes into it. Charlie Holland, former chief executive of Gusbourne and now winemaker for Jackson Family Wines in Essex, calls it a difficult grape to grow here, “but if you get it right, it’s amazing”. Decanter’s 2024 panel found the best had “wonderful drinkability and a fresh, English sappiness”, while others needed more Pinot character and less oak.
Burgundy is taking notice. In 2025 Pierre Duroché of Gevrey-Chambertin agreed to make a Pinot Noir with Danbury Ridge in Essex’s Crouch Valley, for release in 2028. Red Burgundy is not cheap either: The Wine Society says there is little good red Burgundy under £15.
Choose English when you want a light, chillable red for summer. For depth and age, buy Burgundy.
Enjoying this guide?
The best of English wine, once a month
What is on at the vineyards, new tours worth booking and the bottles we are drinking. One short email a month, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
English whites vs German and Austrian whites
Several English grapes were bred in Germany for cool climates. Bacchus is one; Ortega, a cross of Müller-Thurgau and Siegerrebe from Würzburg in 1948, is another, with Muscat and peach aromas. The Wine Society says Ortega particularly suits the English climate. Decanter’s panel picked out Ortega and Pinot Gris as varieties that showed well and ought to matter more.
German Riesling and Austrian Grüner Veltliner, with its twist of white pepper, are in a different league for depth and ageing. England grows only about 2 hectares of Riesling. Where English aromatic whites compete is freshness and lightness.
Choose English when you want a light, floral white with seafood or salads. For a white to cellar, choose German Riesling.
Bottles to try
- If you drink Prosecco: step up to Chapel Down Brut (visit Chapel Down) or Bolney Classic Cuvée, or try Chapel Down Sparkling Rosé.
- If you drink Champagne or Franciacorta: Nyetimber Classic Cuvée (visit Nyetimber), Hambledon Classic Cuvée (visit Hambledon) or Rathfinny Blanc de Blancs (visit Rathfinny).
- If you drink New Zealand Sauvignon: Chapel Down Bacchus.
- If you drink Chablis or white Burgundy: Simpsons’ Gravel Castle Chardonnay or Westwell Village Chardonnay.
- If you drink German or Alsace whites: Westwell Ortega, Bolney Pinot Gris or Chapel Down Flint Dry.
- If you drink red Burgundy: Simpsons’ Rabbit Hole Pinot Noir or Bolney Pinot Noir.
- If you drink Provence rosé: Chapel Down English Rosé or Simpsons’ Railway Hill Rosé.
Chapel Down Bacchus
Bacchus is England’s signature still white grape, and this is the bottle most people start with.
Visit Our guide to Chapel Down
Westwell Village Chardonnay
An unoaked Chardonnay from the Charing winery, fermented cool in stainless steel.
Visit Our guide to Westwell
For sparkling wine in more depth, see English sparkling wine vs Champagne and award-winning English wine. See our picks by style: sparkling, white, rosé and red. Many of these estates welcome visitors; our vineyard directory lists them, including Gusbourne in Kent.
Questions people ask
How good is English wine?
English sparkling wine is among the best in the world: in 2025 Nyetimber became the first wine from outside Champagne to be named Champion Sparkling Wine at the International Wine Challenge. English still wines are younger and more variable, with Chardonnay the most reliable.
Is English sparkling wine better than Prosecco?
It is a different, more complex style, made like Champagne rather than in tanks, and it costs three to five times as much. For a spritz or a party, Prosecco makes more sense.
Is Bacchus like Sauvignon Blanc?
Yes, it is the closest English wine to Sauvignon Blanc, with elderflower, gooseberry and lime and high acidity. It is usually lighter and more delicate than Marlborough Sauvignon.
Is English Pinot Noir as good as Burgundy?
Not yet at the top level. The best English Pinot Noir is light, fresh and very drinkable, and Burgundy winemakers have begun working in Essex, but for depth and ageing Burgundy is still ahead.
What should I pay for a good English still wine?
Decanter’s experts put the entry point at about £15, and about £30 for a bottle that shows the best of England.