England’s hot, dry 2026 summer is boosting hopes for still red wine

England’s unusually hot and dry summer in 2026 is raising new questions about whether the country can build a stronger market for still red wine, not just the sparkling wines that have come to define the industry.

English wine has grown around a cool-climate model that favors sparkling production. About 70% of bottles made in England are sparkling, helped by the high acidity that grapes retain in lower temperatures. But wine market specialist David Jackson, founder of the fine wine marketplace Squelch, said the combination of warmth and sustained dry weather this summer could mark an important moment for red grapes, especially Pinot Noir.

Jackson said the change is not simply a matter of England getting slightly warmer. He argued that one of the historic barriers to red wine has been the country’s mix of cool temperatures, heavy rain and unpredictable conditions during the growing season. In his view, a warm summer alone is not enough if rain and humidity later bring disease and damage the crop. He said 2026 stands out because it has been both very warm and very dry, a combination that can be more favorable for still red wine.

That distinction matters because wet conditions create one of the biggest risks for red grapes in England. Diseases such as botrytis and downy mildew spread more easily in humid vineyards, and red varieties can be especially exposed when summers turn damp late in the season. A drier growing period reduces that pressure and improves the chances that grapes can ripen fully before harvest.

Pinot Noir is drawing much of the attention. The variety is already central to many sparkling wines, but some English producers have also shown it can work as a still red when the site and season are right. Jackson pointed to producers such as Bolney Wine Estate, which has made still Pinot Noir in England, and Gusbourne, which has been investing in English reds.

Industry growth is already giving vineyards more scope to test that opportunity. Production of English wine rose 55% in 2025 to about 16.5 million bottles, according to figures cited in the report. Vineyard registrations have also increased, along with the amount of land planted with vines. If warmer, drier summers become more common, that trend could affect more than vineyard style. It could influence planting decisions, capital investment and future supply planning across the beverage sector, particularly for producers and buyers watching whether England can add more still red wine to a market now dominated by sparkling bottles.

Jackson cautioned that climate change does not mean England will steadily become easier for red wine every year. He said greater weather variability remains a serious problem, with frost, heavy rainfall and disease still capable of causing major damage. That uncertainty is important because vineyards make long-term decisions. A producer planting vines now is effectively betting on what local weather patterns and consumer demand may look like years from now.

He said one way to understand the shift is through Growing Degree Days, a measure of useful heat during the growing season. Jackson compared England with New Zealand’s Waitaki Valley, a cool-climate region known for Pinot Noir. He said Waitaki records about 850 Growing Degree Days and that England now often rises above 800, while that level was rare before 1990. In his view, that means England is increasingly reaching the heat range where serious Pinot Noir is possible, even if it still lacks the consistency of more established red wine regions.

Still, he said heat alone will not decide where English reds succeed. Soil type and site selection may prove just as important. Kent and Sussex are often compared with Champagne because of their chalk soils, a major advantage for sparkling wine, but Jackson said that does not automatically make them the best places for still Pinot Noir. He noted that Bolney’s Pinot Noir is planted on sandstone, while Gusbourne has found its red grapes perform better on clay than on the chalk it uses for sparkling production.

That could push the next phase of English wine development beyond the vineyards now best known for sparkling labels. If more producers begin looking for sites suited to still red grapes, the search may expand to land that has not yet been planted or has not been central to the industry’s reputation so far. For growers in other cool-climate regions, England’s experience may also become a closely watched case in how rising temperatures and drier summers can alter varietal choices.

Jackson said he expects winemakers to take the risk seriously because the industry has a history of moving quickly when it sees an opening. He said England will remain a cool-climate wine country and that sparkling wine is not losing its place. But he added that if hotter summers continue to arrive with the dry and sunny conditions red grapes need, more producers are likely to give still red wine a closer look after 2026.