Yorkshire may soon rival France for the world’s top wines thanks to global warming.
Hotter weather has blessed God’s Own Country with perfect conditions for grapes, experts say.
The county already has 20 vineyards, making 100,000 bottles a year – with heatwaves bringing record-breaking harvests of quality grapes.
Wine writer Jane Clare, of One Foot in the Grapes, said: “This is an opportunity for Yorkshire. We’re now able to not just grow grapes, but grow them to a quality that has the potential to make good wines.
“The potential to make great wines, especially sparkling ones, is in our grasp.”
One leading Yorkshire grower now offers 10 varieties of white and black grapes.
Family-run Dunesforde Vineyard, near York, is expecting to produce 10,000 bottles of wine this year.
Its Queen of the North Classic Cuvée was crowned Best Wine for Midlands and North by Wine GB.
Head of wine development Peter Townsend, 30, said: “When we first planted the vineyard in 2016 it was more in hope than expectation.
“But the wines have been beyond what we could have wished for. Now we’re producing outstanding wines which are winning medals.”
Holmfirth Vineyard – near the West Yorkshire town where BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine was filmed – is 840ft above sea level. Its wine production has quadrupled since 2010 to 10,000 bottles last year.
Little Wold Vineyard, on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, is selling Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and sparkling wine to rival Champagne.
And in Aike, East Yorks, the Laurel Vines vineyard has gone from having 2,000 vines in 2010 to 15,500.
Manager Jonathan Yeo, 27, said: “I just want to make great wine – if it’s from Yorkshire, that’s a bonus.”
Global warming has already made thousands of acres in Essex and Suffolk ideal for growing the same varieties used in Champagne.
Wine expert Nicholas Corke, of merchant Thomas Peatling, said: “Twenty years ago all the English vineyards were in the south. I used to wonder if they’d get as high as Suffolk.
“Now they’re springing up all over the place.
“We’re seeing great quality wine being produced as far north as Yorkshire – unthinkable not so long ago.
“Climate and temperature are crucial, so that extra fraction of a degree can make all the difference to a wine’s quality.”
