The Romans first brought vines to England. East Anglia was particularly favoured because of its combination of low rainfall, long hours of sunshine and limestone and chalk soils. By the time of the Norman Conquest, vines were grown, and wine made, in a substantial number of monastic institutions in England. 40% of British vineyards were to be found in East Anglia.

At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Survey in the late eleventh century, vineyards were recorded in over 40 places in southern England, from East Anglia through to Somerset. By Tudor times there were 139 sizeable vineyards in England and Wales. One of these was at the great abbey of St Edmundsbury. The meadows by the River Lark adjacent to the Abbey are still known as ‘The Vineyards’.

Subsequently the number of vineyards steadily declined. One reason for this could be the dissolution of the monasteries ordered by Henry VIII together with increased competition from French producers. There was also a significant deterioration of the climate into the period known as the ‘little ice age’ (16th – 19th centuries) which would have made wine production a very uncertain business.

Whatever reason, wine production had virtually ceased in England by the early part of the 20th century. It was the 1950’s before the renaissance of wine growing and production got under way, initiated by pioneers willing to try new techniques and different varieties.

Most English wine is white but there is an increasing number of red wines being produced commercially here, and English sparkling wines – often based on the classic varieties grown in the Champagne Region of France – are beginning to rival their more illustrious counterparts across The Channel.

East Anglia possesses a climate similar to that in Alsace, the well-known wine-growing region in Eastern France, and is blessed with a long growing season which makes for the production of wines of engaging complexity.