Key facts
- English winemakers anticipate a "vintage year" due to a hot summer ripening grapes.
- Nyetimber will begin its earliest grape harvest on September 14.
- The harvest is expected to yield over 1.5 million bottles of sparkling wine.
- Barley yields have suffered due to extreme weather, potentially causing a beer shortage.
- The UK's summer was the hottest on record, with temperatures reaching 38.1C.
- August was the joint hottest month globally, 1.65C above preindustrial levels.
English winemakers are anticipating an exceptional "vintage year" following a record-breaking hot summer that has accelerated grape ripening. Nyetimber, a prominent English sparkling wine producer, has announced it will commence its grape harvest on September 14, the earliest in the company's history since planting its first vines in 1988. This harvest is expected to yield approximately 2,500 tonnes of grapes, potentially resulting in over 1.5 million bottles of sparkling wine for the 2026 vintage.
Despite challenges such as late spring frosts affecting nearly 30% of the crop and a summer drought that reduced berry size, the abundance of sunny days is expected to have concentrated sugars in the grapes, leading to high wine quality. Nyetimber's head winemaker, Cherie Spriggs, expressed excitement for the potential of fantastic wine quality.
In contrast, the extreme weather conditions have cast a shadow over the beer industry. Lisa Hogan, who runs Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire with TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, has warned of a potential shortage of beer due to poor barley yields. Provisional data from the Met Office confirms this summer as the UK's hottest on record, with temperatures peaking at 38.1C in London on August 13. June was also confirmed as the country's hottest since 1884.
Scientists attribute these heatwaves to the climate crisis. August was globally the joint hottest month on record, with temperatures reaching 1.65C above preindustrial levels. Hogan noted that while last year's barley yields were poor, the quality was better, but this year, after a second year of dry weather, both yield and quality have suffered. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board indicated that the barley harvest could be the worst on record, with yields running 19% below the five-year average. Hogan also highlighted that similar difficulties in other countries may prevent supplementing grain supplies, leading to higher costs for consumers.