In my home country of England, there are only two occasions when flags are routinely waved: royal weddings and sports tournaments. And of all the sports tournaments, none is more central to the national consciousness than the FIFA World Cup. The last time—well, the only time—England won was in 1966. And yet every four years, we are absolutely, unshakably certain: this time, it’s coming home.
England is, of course, the birthplace of modern football (I’ll forgive you for calling it soccer, just this once). What it was not, until relatively recently, was a winemaking nation of any note. Too cold, too rainy, too gray.
But over the past three decades, summers have grown a little warmer, and winemakers began to notice something: the chalky soils beneath the hills of southern England weren’t so different from those in Champagne.
Nyetimber was an early pioneer of modern English sparkling wine, emerging in the late 1980s as a quietly ambitious estate. Established by American couple Stuart and Sandy Moss, the vineyards were planted with the classic Champagne grape varieties—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier—embracing the same time-honored methods as their French counterparts, to considerable acclaim.
There are now more than 1,000 vineyards across the United Kingdom (mostly concentrated in the south and southeast), specializing in high-quality sparkling wine. The best of them share a precision and freshness that make them genuinely exhilarating to drink, and the result is distinctly English: vivid acidity and a fruit intensity that can take you by surprise.
Several of the United Kingdom’s best producers have made it to the South Florida market. Look for Wiston Estate, Hattingley Valley, Gusbourne, Chapel Down, Henners, Digby Fine English, and Hambledon Vineyard—and if your local wine store doesn’t stock them yet, ask. They’re worth the request.
And the timing couldn’t be better. Miami is hosting seven World Cup games this summer—including England, should they make it to the quarterfinals—and English sparkling wine might be the most fitting thing to have in your glass. They are crisp, refreshing, and certainly built for the heat. Wimbledon runs concurrently (June 29 to July 12), if you need a second excuse to pop a cork.
Several English wines have even beaten Champagne in blind-tasting competitions, suggesting that we’re better at making wine than winning sports tournaments. But I still believe that football trophy is coming home.
Sarah’s Picks
Wiston’s introductory sparkling wine balances richness and breadth with zippy freshness—another glass, please!
Hambledon Vineyard Classic Cuvée Rosé NV
This superbly concentrated Chardonnay-dominant sparkling rosé has racy freshness, red berry flavors, and intense salinity.
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