Celebrating English wines

English Wine Week 2009 (Saturday 23rd – Sunday 31st May) was officially launched on St George’s Day at the English Wine Producers Annual Trade & Press Tasting. This countrywide campaign to promote English wines and vineyards is organised by English Wine Producers (EWP) and supported by the United Kingdom Vineyards Association.

Over the course of the Week vineyards across the country will be opening their doors to welcome visitors and offer a variety of activities, including tours, tastings and sales or hosting special events.

English Wine Week will also be supported by wine merchants, farm shops, delicatessens, hotels, pubs and restaurants with their own promotions of English wines.

“This week-long campaign enables outlets to highlight the English wines that they stock, or provides the opportunity to work with vineyards,” comments Julia Trustram Eve, Marketing Director of English Wine Producers.

“We want to show everyone that English wines are much more available than they might presume. And there are some great activities taking place this year, which provide the wine enthusiast every opportunity to get to know their local wines better.”

Alongside English Wine Week, there is now Welsh Wine Week and Devon Wine Week which highlight specific regional activities.

All events and participating outlets are listed by region and date on englishwineweek.co.uk, which is constantly updated along with news items that are relevant to the week.

Enthusiasm for, and interest in English wines continues to grow within all sectors of the trade, and with wine buying consumers. Retailers in particular continue to respond positively, with listings in major chains as well as independent wine merchants and more English wines are available through the on trade from top London restaurants to local eateries in the wine regions.

With the summer season just around the corner, English Wine Week provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate the wines that are produced on our doorstep.

• Devon is a great place to visit during English Wine Week – vineyards and a host of other outlets are celebrating Devon Wine Week with something taking place on every day of the week – all details are on their website devonwineweek.co.uk

• A map of the vineyards of England and Wales is now available. An ideal accompaniment for the wine enthusiast, giving full contact details for the 163 vineyards listed. The map is available direct from englishwineproducers.com

• A Guide to the Wines of England & Wales, recently published by the Wine Behind the Label Team. Packed with profiles on vineyards, their winemakers, and includes tasting notes of wines and plenty of other background information. Available from all good bookshops and on line retailers. Further information from winebehindthelabel.com