English winemakers are celebrating a "unicorn vintage" as the driest spring in more than 100 years, followed by a record-breaking summer, has produced a golden harvest.
The conditions have been ideal for winemakers who expect this year's vintage to be great.
Founder and winemaker at Sugrue South Downs, Dermot Sugrue, described it as a "unicorn vintage," when all of the conditions came together to produce one perfect season of "remarkable quality" in the grapes.
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville is an investor in Sugrue South Downs, founded by Dermot Sugrue.
Mr Sugrue explained that "consistent" heat and very little rainfall made the year "special".
Head winemaker and CEO at Sandridge Barton in Devon, Duncan Schwab, is hopeful for "some great wines".
He said that "great grapes, little disease, a good summer ripening, and good flowering" were to thank for "one of those fantastic years" in the wine industry.
Chapel Down and Nyetimber, larger-scale producers, pointed toward this year's vintage being of higher quality.
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville is an investor in Sugrue South Downs
|Brad Greatrix, senior winemaker at Nyetimber, said the quality of wine so far is "excellent", as they hope to produce several vintage-dated wines.
Nyetimber started picking grapes on September 24, their earliest ever, with them usually picking in mid-October.
More still wines could be produced this year, with the sunny and drier weather in recent weeks, as winemakers eye up moves away from sparkling wines, which England is best known for.
Sandridge Barton has produced more red wine this year after leaving its pinot noir grapes on vines longer than usual.
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Mr Schwab said the red wine had been tasting "absolutely brilliant".
Sam Lindo, winemaker at Camel Valley in Cornwall, said: "It isn't often we can ripen chardonnay and pinot blanc to still wine levels, so it's an exciting year for winemaking."
Some winemakers have seen lower yields after more difficult conditions last year, despite this year's grapes being widely considered good quality.
But Nyetimber has recorded its second-largest harvest.
Winemakers said this year's harvest has helped produce bottles of 'remarkable quality'
|Winemakers remain conscious that climate change is allowing English wine to exceed previous expectations.
The Meteorological Office said this summer has been affected by climate change and similar conditions could be expected, give or take "one in every five years".
Due to the cost-of-living crisis, sparkling wine sales stalled last year in England.
According to Wine GB, sparkling wine sales remained at 6.2 million bottles for 2023 and last year.
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