Uncorked: Episode 14 - English Wine Is Having A Moment
Welcome to Episode 14 of Uncorked, the Cult Wines podcast. Tom Gearing, our Co-founder and CEO, is joined by Jonathan Stevenson, EVP of Cult Wines North America, and special guest Alice Griffiths.
This episode heads much closer to home, with a deep dive into English and Welsh wine, the vineyard tourism boom, and the regions, styles and stories shaping one of the UK’s most exciting wine categories. From cellar doors and vineyard trails to still wines, Welsh wine, social media, supermarkets and a Guinness World Record attempt involving 80 vineyards in seven days, it is a lively look at how homegrown wine is growing up.
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Meet Alice Griffiths
Alice Griffiths is a wine writer, columnist and passionate advocate for English and Welsh wine. After two decades in agriculture, from lecturing to raising sheep and goats on a Kent smallholding, she turned her attention to the vineyards around her and built a full-time career in wine communication.
A WSET Diploma holder, Alice writes for Vineyard Magazine and My Weekly, and has championed homegrown wine through Posing with Alcohol. In 2025, she also attempted a Guinness World Record by visiting 80 vineyards in seven days, an idea that started as a way to showcase how easy, interesting and varied English vineyard tourism can be.
Alice is also co-founder of Uncorked, the UK's first lifestyle magazine dedicated to English and Welsh wine.
Alice Griffiths | Website: alicegriffithswine.com | Instagram: @alicegriffithswine
Uncorked Magazine: Discover the UK's first lifestyle magazine dedicated to English and Welsh wine at www.uncorkedmagazine.com, or follow @uncorkedmagazineuk on Instagram.
Exclusive offer for Uncorked listeners:
Use code CULTUNCORKED to save £2 on your first edition magazine order (now £6, reduced from £8).
English Wine Tourism Takes the Lead
Tom opens with a very practical question: if someone is coming to the UK and wants to visit English vineyards, where should they go? Alice’s answer is not one single place, because there are now hundreds of cellar doors across the UK, and the right trip depends on what people want from the experience.
The conversation quickly moves into vineyard trails, with regions such as Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, Essex and Sussex all coming into view. Alice explains how producers are beginning to connect the dots more clearly for visitors, which matters in a country where vineyards are often spread across country lanes rather than lined up neatly along one famous wine road.
Kent gets plenty of attention, with Chapel Down, Gusbourne and Domaine Evremond all mentioned as part of a strong starting point. Sussex also comes up as a booming area, with producers including Sugrue, Everflyht, Ridgeview and Artelium sitting within a concentrated and increasingly visitor-friendly wine scene.
More than just a Tasting Room
For Tom and Jonathan, wine trips are not only about the estates. They are about the full package: where you stay, where you eat, and how the whole region fits together. Alice points to the South of England as being further ahead on that front, partly because those vineyards have been developing for longer.
Wiston and its Chalk restaurant come into the conversation, along with the fact that Wiston has been served at a banquet for King Charles. Alice describes the wines as indulgent, heritage-driven sparkling, well suited to that kind of occasion.
The broader point is that English wine tourism is no longer just a novelty. It is becoming a genuine hospitality opportunity, with vineyard visits, restaurants, trails and regional identity all beginning to work together.
English Wine Boom & What Comes Next
Alice talks about how much the English wine scene has changed over the past decade. The 2018 harvest is described as a pivotal moment, with its quality and abundance helping fuel a wave of new planting. Those vines planted in the years that followed are now beginning to come into effect, creating both excitement and pressure.
The group discuss the growth in vineyard numbers, the expansion of established sites, and the question that will define the next stage of the industry: not whether the UK can make good wine, but whether it can sell enough of it.
That leads into a discussion around consolidation. Alice describes what she calls a “Pac-Man effect”, where bigger vineyards may begin to absorb smaller ones as the industry matures and sales channels become increasingly important.
Sparkling, Still & Experimental Wines
English sparkling wine has done much of the heavy lifting for the category, but the episode spends time looking beyond bubbles. Jonathan asks whether still wines are the next step for English wine, and Alice points to East Anglia, Norfolk, Essex and the Crouch Valley as regions showing real potential.
Still wines, she explains, can also play an important business role for newer producers. Sparkling wine takes time, so still wines can help bring in revenue while longer-aged bottles are waiting in the cellar.
The conversation also touches on rosé, orange wine, pét-nats and more experimental styles. Alice is clear that some wines work better than others, especially when certain styles are treated as an afterthought. But the overall picture is one of an industry still working out what grows best, where, and how those wines should be positioned.
Vines, Onions & the Changing British Landscape
One of the more unexpected moments in the episode comes when Alice tells the story of bumping into an old university friend at a vineyard show. He was an onion farmer who had decided to dig up part of the farm and plant vines.
It leads to a wider discussion about land use, diversification and how British agriculture is changing. Some vineyards are planted as passion projects, others as serious commercial decisions, and some landowners are actively searching for the right sites. Alice talks about the move away from a narrow obsession with chalk, with clay, green sand and other soil types now part of the conversation.
When asked where she would plant today, Alice points towards Norfolk and Essex, citing collaboration, climate and the sense that there is still more to discover there.
Social Media, Accessibility & Getting People Started
Alice explains how social media helped her find a community, connect with winemakers and turn a personal interest into a career. It also gave her a platform to make wine feel more accessible.
That accessibility matters. Alice talks about how one dismissive comment early in someone’s wine journey can put them off, especially if wine is made to feel intimidating or rule-bound. Her approach is much more open: if someone likes something, great. From there, you can help them try something else and gradually build confidence.
The group connect that idea to English wine more broadly. A supermarket bottle might lead to a vineyard visit. A vineyard visit might lead to buying from a cellar door. A cellar door might lead to someone building a deeper relationship with the category.
Welsh Wine Deserves its Moment
The episode also makes room for Welsh wine, which Alice describes as fun, established and increasingly well connected. Ancre Hill is mentioned as one of the names people know, and Alice points to both North and South Wales as having active vineyard scenes.
She also notes the support Welsh wine receives through its connection with food and tourism. Welsh restaurants, in her view, often understand the assignment, putting Welsh wines in front of people alongside local food.
The styles can be different too. Alice talks about alternative wines, pét-nats, orange wines, biodynamic and organic approaches, as well as grape varieties such as Solaris and Rondo, which can cope better with vintage variation. Hebron is also mentioned for its unusual viticultural approach, with vines grown alongside willow trees rather than conventional trellising.
The Magazine Bringing it all Together
Alice also shares the thinking behind Uncorked, the new lifestyle magazine she is co-launching with Rebecca Pitcairn, dedicated to English and Welsh wine.
The idea is to connect wine with travel, hospitality, food, weekends away, weddings and regional discovery. Rather than only speaking to the trade, the magazine aims to help consumers find vineyards to visit, bottles to try and experiences to build into their plans.
It is planned as a print magazine, also available online, with distribution through cellar doors and hospitality venues. The goal is simple: someone staying in a hotel, planning a weekend or looking for a Christmas bottle should be able to open it and find something homegrown to explore.
Michelin Grapes and a Fine Wine Curveball
Towards the end, the conversation moves away from English and Welsh wine and into the recent controversy around the Michelin Guide to Wine, starting in Burgundy.
Tom, Jonathan and Alice discuss whether a Michelin-style rating system makes sense in wine, how much influence it could have, and whether it risks creating a shortcut for newer collectors who want reassurance when choosing bottles. Producers including Hubert Lamy, Jean-Marc Thomas Bouley, Dugat-Py and Rousseau come into the conversation as part of the wider debate.
No one pretends it is simple. It raises questions around transparency, accessibility, expertise and whether wine needs another layer of ranking at all.
The Last Drop
This episode is a proper homegrown wine tour, covering the people, places and possibilities shaping English and Welsh wine right now. From vineyard trails and cellar doors to still wines, Welsh producers, tourism, social media and the realities of selling more UK wine, it is a reminder that one of the most exciting wine stories is happening right on our doorstep.
Pack the sensible shoes, check the train times and maybe avoid trying to beat Alice’s vineyard count. Follow the podcast, send us your questions, and tell us which wine regions we should talk about next.
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