The short answer
Wales has about 60 vineyards and a little over 90 hectares of vines, roughly 2% of the vineyard land in England and Wales together. The climate is wetter and the vineyards smaller than in south-east England, so growers lean on hardy hybrid grapes such as Seyval Blanc, Solaris and Rondo as well as Pinot Noir. Expect crisp, aromatic whites, reds from Rondo and Pinot Noir, and some sparkling wine made the Champagne way. Since White Castle won a Decanter gold in 2021, the top Welsh wines have been taken seriously. You will mostly buy it at the cellar door, so it is worth a trip.
Welsh wine at a glance
| Wales | |
|---|---|
| Vineyards | 56 registered vineyards and 3 wineries in November 2025; “more than 60” vineyards by May 2026 |
| Land under vine | More than 93 hectares (2025). England and Wales together have 4,841 hectares |
| Bottles made | About 178,000 in 2023: 111,500 white and 66,500 red and rosé |
| Vineyard size | 80% were under 3 hectares (7 acres) in a 2021 study, and only two were 10 hectares or more |
| Main grapes | Seyval Blanc, Rondo, Pinot Noir, Solaris and Phoenix, then Regent and Madeleine Angevine |
| Where | Mostly south and west Wales, with fewer in mid and north Wales |
| Protected names | Welsh Wine (PDO) and Welsh Regional Wine (PGI) |
| How it is sold | About 77% at the cellar door (2021 study) |
| Industry body | Gwin Cymru |
| Welsh Wine Week | Late May to early June; in 2026 it ran from 29 May to 7 June |
How it differs from English wine
Start with the weather. The official specification for Welsh wine says every vineyard lies above 49.9 degrees north, with long summer days, few days above 30°C and a big gap between day and night temperatures. That gives high acidity and strong aromas. Wales is also on the wet, windy western side of Britain. Rainfall is high and sunshine modest, so growers choose south-facing, well-drained slopes sheltered from the westerly winds.
The grapes follow from that. English wine is now dominated by Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and in 2024 more than two-thirds of it was sparkling. In Wales the commonest grape is Seyval Blanc, followed by Rondo and Pinot Noir. Hybrids like these resist disease and ripen early, which matters more in a wet year than a name on the label does. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are planted too, and some producers make traditional-method fizz, but others have gone their own way rather than copy Sussex.
Then there is scale. Most Welsh vineyards are a few acres run by a family, and a 2021 study for the Welsh Government found some sold every bottle at the cellar door. That is why so few Welsh wines reach a shop in England.
A short history
The Marquess of Bute planted a vineyard of about 1.2 hectares below Castell Coch, north of Cardiff, in 1875, after sending his gardener, Andrew Pettigrew, to France to train. The first harvest, in 1877, made only 240 bottles. By 1887 it was making 3,000 bottles of sweet white wine. Production stopped during the First World War, when sugar ran short, and the vines were pulled up in 1920.
The modern revival began in the 1970s. Glyndwr Vineyard in the Vale of Glamorgan, set up in 1979, is described by the county’s tourism site as the oldest vineyard in Wales, and Llanerch planted its first vines in 1986. From the late 1970s, one or two new vineyards opened in an average year. There were 22 working vineyards in 2015 and 38 on the Food Standards Agency register in 2021, and the Welsh Government now counts more than 60.
Welsh Wine PDO and Welsh Regional Wine PGI
Wales has two protected designations, and a producer applies for them wine by wine, every year. Each wine has to pass a laboratory test after bottling and a tasting panel.
- Welsh Wine (PDO)The stricter of the two. All the grapes must come from Wales, from vines below 220 metres above sea level, and from an approved list that leaves out hybrids such as Seyval Blanc. Sparkling wine must be made by the traditional method, with at least nine months on the lees, from Chardonnay or the Pinot family.
- Welsh Regional Wine (PGI)Allows a longer list of grapes, Seyval Blanc and other hybrids included. So a Welsh Seyval Blanc, from the grape planted most widely in Wales, can be a Welsh Regional Wine but not a PDO Welsh Wine.
Neither name tells you much about quality on its own. A small vineyard may not pay for the tests at all, so a wine without either badge can still be very good.
Producers and wines to know
- White Castle, near AbergavennyIts Pinot Noir Reserve 2018, made from Pinot Noir Précoce, was the first Welsh wine to win a gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards, in 2021. In 2022 it was the only Welsh vineyard with medals at the International Wine Challenge. The reds are why we would go.
- Llanerch, Vale of GlamorganPlanted in 1986 and sold as Cariad, the Welsh word for sweetheart. The wines are mostly from hybrids such as Solaris, Phoenix and Seyval Blanc. Llanerch is also a hotel and restaurant, which makes it the easiest Welsh vineyard to visit.
- Velfrey, PembrokeshireA family vineyard near Narberth, set up in 2016. It is best known for traditional-method sparkling wine from Seyval Blanc and Pinot Noir, and in 2025 it was the Wales regional winner at the Great British Food Awards. Naturiol, a low-alcohol white, is the oddity worth trying.
- Ancre Hill, MonmouthNine hectares, farmed biodynamically and certified by Demeter since 2014, making about 30,000 bottles a year. Look for the Chardonnay, the Pinot Noir and the sparkling wines. It does not advertise visits, so buy through its stockists.
- Vale Vineyard and Gwinllan Conwy, north WalesAt the 2022 Welsh wine awards, Vale Vineyard took best white with its Solaris and best rosé with its Rondo, and Gwinllan Conwy took best sparkling white with Pefriog Phoenix.
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Where to visit and buy it
Buy it where it is made. About three-quarters of Welsh wine is sold at the cellar door, and some vineyards sell nothing anywhere else. Many have their own online shops, and the bigger producers sell through wine merchants.
For visits, Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan have the most vineyards close together. White Castle, Sugar Loaf and The Dell are within about 20 minutes of each other round Abergavenny and Raglan, and Llanerch runs tastings all year. Our weekend of vineyards in south Wales puts them into two days. In the north, Pant Du, Gwinllan Conwy, Red Wharf Bay and Vale Vineyard take visitors, and Velfrey runs tours in Pembrokeshire.
Most Welsh vineyards open only on set days, and some close for the winter, so check before you go. Our directory of Welsh vineyards has the days, booking rules and whether dogs are welcome. Welsh Wine Week, around the start of June, is a good time to go.
Questions people ask
Is Welsh wine any good?
The best is. White Castle’s Pinot Noir Reserve 2018 won a gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2021, the first for a Welsh wine, and Welsh wines have since won medals at Decanter and the International Wine Challenge. Quality varies more than in England because so many vineyards are small and new, which is a good reason to taste before you buy a case.
Can you buy Welsh wine outside Wales?
Not easily. Only small amounts go to the rest of the UK, mostly from the larger vineyards through wholesalers and wine merchants. The simplest way is to order from a vineyard’s own website.
What is the oldest vineyard in Wales?
Of those still working, Glyndwr Vineyard in the Vale of Glamorgan, set up in 1979, is described by the Vale of Glamorgan’s tourism site as the oldest. The first commercial vineyard in Wales, at Castell Coch, was planted in 1875 and pulled up in 1920.