Britain’s wine industry is toasting one of its strongest harvests on record, with an early season, exceptional fruit quality and production expected to reach up to 16 million bottles.
WineGB has described the 2025 harvest as a “vintage of outstanding quality”, following the driest summer ever recorded in the UK. The prolonged warm and dry conditions delivered one of the earliest grape harvests seen nationally and allowed fruit to ripen fully, creating particular optimism among still wine producers.
Early predictions that 2025 could be a standout year now appear justified. Provisional findings show grapes reached record ripeness, while yields matched the 10-year national average despite regional variation. By volume, the crop is expected to be the second largest on record, at an estimated 15 to 16 million bottles.
Harvest timing proved a defining advantage. A small number of vineyards began picking in late August, with most starting by mid-September — around three weeks earlier than in 2024.
Crucially, growers were able to choose when to harvest, rather than racing against deteriorating weather or disease pressure, and most completed picking in the first week of October.
WineGB said the conditions helped maintain fruit health and consistency, giving winemakers greater control and flexibility. The vintage also capped a year of strong commercial momentum for English and Welsh wine.
Export volumes are reported to be up 35%, alongside steady domestic growth that has seen the sector’s market share rise from 4% to 9% over the past five years. Success on the international stage is reflected in the growing number of awards won by UK wines, highlighted through WineGB’s Golden 50 list.
The early assessment is based on WineGB’s annual voluntary harvest survey, which gathers data from across the sector. Full figures will be published by the Food Standards Agency’s Wine Standards team in March 2026. WineGB said the provisional data shows increasing engagement with quality measures, allowing a more detailed understanding of fruit condition beyond grape variety alone.
WineGB chief executive Nicola Bates said: “The sector has been secretly excited at the potential of this harvest.” She said early analysis suggested “the anticipation is totally justified”, adding that the results offered a welcome boost after a year shaped by economic and political pressures. She pointed to “real interest in English and Welsh wines” and said the combination of fruit quality and winemaking skill gave cause for optimism.
Harvest report author Stephen Skelton MW said 2025 stood out for still wines. “Potentially this is the best year ever for still wine especially from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the right sites and we can expect some truly world-class wines from the top producers,” he said.
He added that sparkling wines should also perform strongly and may reach the market sooner than those from cooler years, while quality gains were likely even in more marginal growing regions.
With production scale, fruit quality and export demand aligning, WineGB said the 2025 vintage could mark a defining moment in the growing reputation of English and Welsh wines on the global stage.
