Region & History

Sussex has been a Protected Designation of Origin, or PDO, for English sparkling wine since 2022. It was announced on 15 June 2022. That makes Sussex more than just an address: the name on the bottle comes with rules attached. This is new, since English sparkling wine long relied solely on the reputation of individual houses.

The sparkling wine must be made using the traditional method, meaning a second fermentation in the bottle. It rests on the lees for at least twelve months, and spends at least fifteen months in the bottle in total before sale. The grapes come from Sussex and are hand-harvested. For vintage wines, at least 85 percent of the grapes must come from the stated year.

Behind this lies a landscape of chalk, greensand and clay between the South Downs and the Weald. In 2023, according to industry figures, 28 percent of all British wine came from Sussex, more than from any other county. By planted area, West Sussex ranks second behind Kent.

The well-known names are spread across West and East Sussex. Ridgeview is located near Ditchling at the foot of the South Downs, Rathfinny in East Sussex near the Cuckmere Valley. Nyetimber, based in West Sussex, farms 425 hectares across eleven vineyards according to its own figures, spread over Sussex, Hampshire and Kent. For the Sussex designation, however, only grapes grown in Sussex count.

Alongside this, there is also the broader designation English, covering all of England. Sussex is the narrower tier within it, naming a stretch of land rather than a country. This helps when shopping: the bottle states origin, method and minimum maturation all at once. Whether it tastes of citrus, apple or brioche is then down to the house, not the authority.