Climate

Sussex sits at 51 degrees north latitude, a good one to two degrees further north than Champagne at roughly 49.5 degrees. That may sound like little, but it means a noticeably shorter, cooler summer. Grapes here need more time to ripen. It's precisely this slowness that preserves the acidity a good sparkling wine requires.

Spring frost remains the greatest danger. In April 2017, temperatures in southeast England dropped to as low as minus six degrees Celsius for three nights running – a level not seen in twenty years. Some estates lost well over half their crop that year. Others lit candles all night between the vine rows to save the young blossoms from freezing.

Since Nyetimber bet on rising temperatures back in 1988, the climate has indeed changed. What looked like a gamble at the time now reads like an early, correct forecast. The vines ripen more reliably these days, without Sussex having become too warm for the fine, acid-driven base that bottle fermentation demands.

The English Channel acts like a buffer. Rathfinny sits less than three miles from the coast, and the mild sea air softens exactly the frosts that regularly hit harder further inland. The South Downs additionally shield the vineyards from cold northerly winds and trap warmth on their sun-facing southern slopes, which benefits the vines on cool nights.

Rain is less of a problem in Sussex than one might expect from England. The Downs cast a light rain shadow over many vineyards, and autumn usually brings enough dry days for an unhurried harvest in October. Even so, every vintage here remains its own gamble: the difference between a generous year and a lean one is often greater in Sussex than in Champagne.