We certainly don’t need an excuse to crack open a good bottle of vino but English Wine Week is coming up (20th – 28th June, mark your calendars) so it really would be rude to not get involved. We can’t take day trips to any vineyards just yet so we’ll make do with tastings at home, and these are the bottles we’re popping.

Sharpham Pinot Gris Wild Ferment
If you like your white wine to pack punch then this Pinot Gris Wild Ferment from Sharpham Estate in Devon is the one for you. The skin contact gives it a strong colour and it’s nice and dry with real sour stone fruit flavours in there.

The Uncommon English Sparkling Rosé
Wine in a can? When it’s this good we’re all over it. With a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, meaning notes of red fruit, The Uncommon has made the perfect picnic tinny. Wine spritzers are coming soon too.

Bolney Pinot Noir
English reds only make up a small proportion of English wine but there are some good’uns out there, like this award-winning Pinot Noir from Bolney. It’s lighter bodied but still has cherry and spicy notes.

Renegade ‘Jock’ English Rosé
Produced at Renegade Urban Winery in the heart of Bethnal Green, this is the perfect summer rosé – it’s delicate but still as a tang, and is best ice, ice cold.

Ridgeview Bloomsbury
Ridgeview is one of the OGs of English sparkling wine and their signature Bloomsbury is crisp and fresh thanks to the Chardonnay in the blend (this also means it’ll age well). It was even served at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, so if it’s good enough for Her Maj…

Chapel Down Bacchus 2018
The Bacchus grape is really well suited to the English climate so it’s very popular with winemakers – it’s basically our version of Sauvignon Blanc. Chapel Down does a particularly good one; it’s floral and peachy and slips down a right treat.