Welsh Wine Week is almost here! Join us ...

FROM THE WELSH WINE WEEK WEB-SITE:

Hot, sandy beaches dotted with palm trees ... medieval castle ruins nestled in rugged coastlines ... a buzzing indie food scene and days spent meandering through wine country sipping crisp whites, fruity reds, and refreshing sparkling wines. Where am I? Italy? No. I'm home in Wales, a wine-producing country and a food-lover's heaven.
With staycations now the "new norm" and climate change warming things up, the timing is perfect for the Welsh wine scene to show-off its treasures.

Whether the Romans brought their wine to Wales or grew it, is a subject for debate. But we do know that after the medieval period of monastic viticulture, the first commercial vineyard in Britain was in Wales, planted by the Marquess of Bute at his Castle Coch, outside Cardiff, in 1875. This definitely bestows upon Wales a distinct historical pedigree.
There was another spurt of vineyards in the 1950s, but the real revival in Wales began in the late 1970s.

“The savvy growers watch and learn,
and aren't repeating the same mistakes
made by other regions.”

The Welsh may make less wine than the English, but it's making its mark on the wine world in a uniquely Welsh way. Winemaking here has increased seventy percent over the past decade and its future is more than promising. The secret is that the grape growers know how to turn their perceived disadvantages, into advantages. For example, Wales will always be small, but this means that large-scale industrial winemaking won't ever make sense. And it creates an enormous potential for discovering individual, distinguishing micro-climates. Their vision is that of small-quantity, terroir-driven, quality wines.

In wine, smaller is better. If Wales is considered the smaller sibling, it knows how to take advantage of that, too.
The savvy growers watch and learn, and aren't repeating the same mistakes made by other regions. They know that they are perfectly positioned to leapfrog into the lead. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in their work in sustainable, organic and biodynamic growing practices.

Many producers are choosing to go with the Old World-wine style. They can do this. Welsh grapes taste, well, "Welsh". They taste of the cool climate, the distinctive soils, and the lush landscapes in which they are grown as opposed to tasting as though grown anywhere, in bulk. Wales has a rich geochemical diversity. Think of its mining history and ancient volcanic activity. Wales, too, is on average, topographically higher than south-east England, providing vineyards with optimum exposure.

You'll find many of the same cool-climate grape varieties being grown in Wales as in England. They both started with the successful German hybrids, from Bacchus to Solaris. However, climate change means that the classic French and International varieties, particularly the three Champagne grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier), now grow alongside them. And as with England, the sparkling wines are taking the lead. Welsh sparkling wines are consistently winning international awards. That said, I've got my eyes on the reds: the Pinot Noirs and the new Cabernet Franc plantings.

Where to start? From Glyndwr in the Vale of Glamorgan established in 1979, to the newbies at Gwinllan y Dyffryn (Vale Vineyard) in Denbighshire, you are spoiled for choice. Welsh wines are world-class, and they have indeed, given us the world at our feet.