Principal UK Vineyards Area Counties No. vyds ha vines Northern Cheshire, Cleveland 0 0.2 N.East and N. Mercia Durham, Shropshire, W.Yorks, Staffs 6 16.7 South Mercia Gloucs, Hereford, Warks. 24 55 East Midlands Derby, Leics, Lincs, Northants, Notts 6 3.3 Anglia Beds, Cambs, Essex, Herts, Norfolk, Suff 63 131.6 Wessex Avon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire 59 70.4 South West Cornwall, Devon 42 51 Central South East Berks, Bucks, Oxfordshire 29 61 Hampshire Basin Hampshire, Isle of Wight 41 115 South East Sussex, Kent, Surrey 84 437 Wales Dyfed Gwent, South Glamorgan 18 24.5 The UK’s 1995 vintage was just over 13,000 hectolitres, of which more than 8,000 hl were produced in the South East region. Total plantings are around 1,000 ha. Most of the varieties are German hybrids with some American ancestry which have been bred for cool, damp conditions. Muller of Thurgau accounts for 14.4% of all plantings, while Seyval Blanc (deemed unsuitable by the French for respectable wine growing countries) makes up 12%. Other major varieties are Bacchus (9.2%), Huxelrebe (5%), Kerner, Madeleine Angevine (6.6%), Ortega, Optima, Reichensteiner (12.3%) and Schonburger (7.7%). As far as reds are concerned, the major UK varieties are Triomphe d’Alsace, Pinot Noir (usually for rosEs), Dornfelder (considered in Europe to be a specialist cool climate red vairety) and Dunkelfelder.
