United Kingdom Vineyard Register

Tuesday 23 August 2011

The FSA Wine Standards Branch is responsible for the UK Vineyard Register, which records details of all vineyards known to wine standards inspectors.

The wine regulations specifiy the data which must be recorded, including the area of the vineyard and the areas for different vine varieties grown. Annual harvest and production declarations are part of the Vineyard Register, with the total production data being notified to the European Commission.

Reports on vineyard data are compiled at the start of each wine year in August. For wine year 2011-12, there are currently 418 commercial vineyards in England and Wales. In addition there are 70 vineyards which are classified as hobby vineyards as their production is not sold. The total area including hobby vineyards is 1,384 hectares. Commercial vineyards are sub-divided into those which grow grapes but do not have wine making facilities and 124 which have wineries to make wine from their own production and from grapes processed under contract or bought from vineyards.

Vineyards are mostly situated in the South West (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset Gloucestershire approx 200 hectares) and South East of England (approx 730 hectares in Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, Sussex and Wiltshire), with others in East Anglia, the Midlands and a few further north and in Wales.

The main vine varieties grown have changed considerably in the last five years in favour of those suitable for producing sparkling wine. These are the classic varieties Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The longer established white varieties Bacchus, Seyval Blanc and Reichensteiner are mainly used for still wine.

Production volumes vary quite widely from year to year depending on weather conditions. The harvest in 2010 was 30,346 hectolitres, the highest recorded (previous large harvests in 2006, 1996 and 1992).