The Regions of the United Kingdom

English wine and Welsh wine has come a long way in the last 20 years. Major investment has produced centres of excellence in production, important tourist locations as well as an important viticultural training centre at Plumpton College in Sussex. Since 2000, large hectarages of sparkling wine grapes have been planted in Sussex, Hampshire and Kent, and are now featured as their own region in this guide. By 2012, the range of English sparkling wine on the market will probably exceed that of still wines.

The northwards march of viticulture proves that latitude, whilst significant, is not critical to vinegrowing.New varieties have greatly assisted viticulturalists. England's most northerly commercial vineyard is now Ryedale near Malton in Yorkshire, where the right grapes and a sheltered site show what can be achieved. In the west, Ynys Mon is the furthest northern outpost for Welsh wine.

Even Scotland now has 2 vineyards, with one being in polytunnels on the Island of Lewis.
This website provides access details for the majority of Welsh and English vineyards, together with suggested tourist routes and wine-and-food matches. The UK national organisation for vineyards is the United Kingdom Vineyards Association, which is financed entirely by its member vineyards. Payment is made through the constituent associations. Charges are in 3 parts:

  • An association charge
  • A UKVA fee
  • A charge according to the number of hectares grown. Membership of any association is open to growers and non-growers.

Where to find specified vineyards.

Click on the region that you require
Note that many new sparkling wine vineyards are only shown on the Sparkling wine entry on the Menu. Many Organic vineyards are shown both in the Organic entry and in their appropriate region

The associations are:

  • The Anglian Vineyards Association (Essex, Norfork, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire). Association web site
  • The South East Association (Kent, Sussex and Surrey)Web site
  • The Thames & Chilterns Association (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire) Association web site
  • The Wessex Association (Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight)
  • The South Western Vineyards Association(Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, South Wales and the southern Welsh Marches)
  • The South Western Vineyards Association
  • The Mercian Vineyards Association (Northern England,Scotland, North Wales and Northern Ireland)
    Web site


    • Each association runs an annual competition and takes turns to host the UKVA competition. Information can be obtained from the General Secretary, UKVA, P.O. Box 534, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 9BZ (sian@ukva.org.uk)

    UKVINES- Vineyards of England and Wales