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The 12 Best English Sparkling Wines

13 Oct 2026 · By Stephen Pritchard in Wine Guides

Most English sparkling wine is made the same way as Champagne, from the same three grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The standard bottle from each house, the classic cuvée, is where most people start. These 12 are Vinebound's picks, chosen from our own favourites, critic acclaim and award wins since 2025. They run from £30 to £48 a bottle.

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If you only buy one

  • Most awarded: Langham Culver Classic Cuvée NV, £34.95. Gold and the trophy for best classic cuvée NV at WineGB 2025.
  • Best value: Greyfriars Classic Cuvée 2015, £30. WineGB gold at 95 points.
  • Best from a supermarket: Bolney Classic Cuvée at Tesco, £32. IWC gold for the 2016.
  • Easiest to visit: Chapel Down, open daily with no booking, and its Grand Reserve won a WineGB trophy in 2026.
  • Best for a special occasion: Gusbourne Brut Reserve 2022, £45, from an estate that grows all its own fruit.

What a classic cuvée is

A classic cuvée is a house's standard blend, usually a mix of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, made by the traditional method: the second fermentation happens in the bottle, and the wine rests on its lees, often for years, before release. It is usually non-vintage (NV), blended from several harvests plus reserve wines, so a house can keep its style the same from year to year. A vintage wine comes from a single harvest and is usually dearer.

The grape mix shapes the style. Hambledon's is led by Chardonnay, Digby's is close to an even three-way split, and Langham's Culver is the unusual one here, with 45% Meunier, 43% Pinot Noir and 12% Chardonnay. Looking for something different? See the best English sparkling rosés or the best English Blanc de Blancs.

The trophy winners

Langham: Culver Classic Cuvée NV

Location: near Dorchester, Dorset

It won gold at WineGB 2025 and the trophy for best classic cuvée NV, after a gold at WineGB in 2024 and a silver at IWSC in 2025. It is a Pinot-led blend of 45% Pinot Meunier, 43% Pinot Noir and 12% Chardonnay, named after the chalk the vines are planted in. Langham's notes describe it as rich and opulent, with the depth to go with food. It is £34.95.

Visit: open every day except Monday, 10 to 5 (Fridays until 9 for Fizz Friday), all year. Tours start from £25.

Buy from Langham ↗

Chapel Down: Grand Reserve

Location: Tenterden, Kent

The Grand Reserve 2019 won the WineGB trophy for best vintage classic cuvée in 2026. The vintage on sale now is the 2020, at £48: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from the best fraction of the juice, aged for at least three years in bottle before release. The standard Brut NV is £31, and Waitrose and Tesco both stock it.

Visit: open daily, 10 to 5, all year, with a vineyard walk, tasting bar and shop, and no booking needed.

Buy from Chapel Down ↗

All Angels: Classic Cuvée 2019

Location: Enborne, near Newbury, West Berkshire

The 10 Year Anniversary Classic Cuvée (2014) won the Thames and Chilterns regional trophy at WineGB 2025, and the 2019 won gold at WineGB 2026. The 2019 is £42 and in stock; the anniversary bottle has sold out. All Angels' notes list pastry, croissant and lemon patisserie, with honeysuckle and crushed wild strawberry as it opens in the glass.

Visit: all visits are pre-booked guided or private tours.

Buy from All Angels ↗

Gold medal classic cuvées

Hambledon: Classic Cuvée

Location: Hambledon, Hampshire

It won gold at Decanter 2026 with 95 points. Chardonnay is the main component, with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, grown on south-east-facing chalk slopes and aged for at least three years in bottle before release. Hambledon describes it as always quite dry, with ripe apricot and crisp pear and nutty, brioche notes from the lees. It is £42 (£22 for a half bottle).

Visit: the cellar door shop is open every day, all year: Monday to Thursday 10 to 5, Friday and Saturday 10 to 7, and Sunday 10 to 4.30.

Buy from Hambledon ↗

Greyfriars: Classic Cuvée 2015

Location: Puttenham, near Guildford, Surrey

It won gold at WineGB 2025 at 95 points and, at £30, is the cheapest of the medal winners here. The 2015 is described as elegant, dry and complex, from a dry summer and a warm September. Greyfriars also sells a Non Vintage Cuvée at £25.

Visit: open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 to 4, with self-guided vineyard walks and no booking.

Buy from Greyfriars ↗

Roebuck Estates: Classic Cuvée 2020

Location: Tillington, near Petworth, West Sussex

It won gold at the International Wine Challenge 2026 with 95 points. Roebuck's notes list baked apple, ripe apricot and a hint of toasted almond over a biscuity richness. It is £38 a bottle.

Visit: by ticketed, pre-booked events only (tours and tastings, Sunset Sipping, and sparkling wine bar sessions).

Buy from Roebuck ↗

Digby: Non Vintage Brut

Location: Arundel, West Sussex

It won gold at WineGB 2026. It is a near-even blend of 35% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Meunier and 32% Pinot Noir, with lively green apple fruit and toasty notes. It is £38 (£30.40 for Kenelm Club members), and Digby calls it its "because it's Tuesday" wine.

Visit: the tasting room on Arundel High Street is open Thursday 2 to 8, Friday and Saturday 12 to 8, and Sunday 12 to 6, all year.

Buy from Digby ↗

Bolney: Classic Cuvée NV

Location: Bolney, West Sussex

The Classic Cuvée 2016 won gold at the International Wine Challenge in 2026, and it took silver at Decanter at 91 points in both 2025 and 2026. The non-vintage on sale now is Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier with hedgerow fruits, brioche and apple, and it is £35 (£29.75 for wine club members). It is also stocked by Tesco at £32.

Visit: open daily, 9 to 5, all year, with a café, wine bar and restaurant on site (their opening times vary).

Buy from Bolney ↗ Tesco ↗

Harrow & Hope: Brut Reserve No.10

Location: Marlow, Buckinghamshire

It won gold at WineGB 2026. It is a multi-vintage blend based on 2021: 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier, with 30% from a perpetual reserve of oak-aged wines and at least 32 months on the lees. It is sold by the case of six at £204, which is £34 a bottle.

Visit: winery tours in Marlow last around two hours and must be pre-booked.

Buy from Harrow & Hope ↗

Three more worth tracking down

These three have fewer classic cuvée medals, so their results are stated as they are. They are here for the house, not for a headline score.

Exton Park: RB|32 Brut

Location: Exton, Hampshire

The house Brut is built around reserve wines, and RB|32 holds the oldest reserve in the range, with savoury brioche and baked apple over mineral freshness. It is £39. The estate's Blanc de Blancs 2013 won the WineGB 2026 trophy for best aged or vintage sparkling wine.

Visit: tours must be pre-booked, running on Fridays at £50, with some Saturday dates.

Buy from Exton Park ↗

Gusbourne: Brut Reserve 2022

Location: Appledore, near Ashford, Kent

Gusbourne makes its wines only from fruit grown on its own estate, 60 hectares at Appledore planted from 2004. Brut Reserve is its best-selling sparkling wine. The 2022 is a Chardonnay-backed blend with Pinot Noir for body and Meunier for floral fruit, and it is £45 (£40 for members). The 2021 took silver at Decanter in 2025 at 90 points, and the wine has golds from the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships 2025 and the IWC 2024.

Visit: tours and tastings run Wednesday to Monday, 10 to 5, with walk-in wine and food service Friday to Sunday. Closed Tuesday.

Buy from Gusbourne ↗

Wiston: Brut NV

Location: Washington, West Sussex

The Brut NV is Wiston's best-selling wine and its introduction to the range, with aromas of green apple, lemon and sourdough alongside grilled walnut and apricot. The Brut took silver at Decanter 2026 at 93 points, and the estate's Blanc de Blancs 2018 took gold at 96. It is £38 a bottle.

Visit: the cellar door is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 to 4, all year. The Chalk restaurant serves lunch Wednesday to Sunday and a set estate menu for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Buy from Wiston ↗

The best English sparkling wines available in supermarkets

Not all of these wines are sold in supermarkets, but some of the best are. Prices are correct as of 13 October 2026. Some bottles were on offer when checked, and prices may change.

For the wider supermarket range, see our guide to English wine in supermarkets.

FAQ

What is the best English sparkling wine?
On competition results since 2025, three classic cuvées lead this list: Langham's Culver Classic Cuvée NV (gold and best classic cuvée NV at WineGB 2025), Chapel Down's Grand Reserve (the WineGB 2026 trophy for best vintage classic cuvée) and All Angels' Classic Cuvée (a WineGB 2025 regional trophy for the 2014, and gold in 2026 for the 2019). The medal table above shows each result and the vintage that won it.
Is English sparkling wine as good as Champagne?
It is made the same way, from the same three grapes, and aged on the lees for years: Hambledon's Classic Cuvée and Chapel Down's Grand Reserve both spend at least three years in bottle before release. Whether one is better is a matter of taste and budget. The English wines in this guide run from £30 to £48, and judges have scored several of them 95 points, including Hambledon, Greyfriars and Roebuck Estates.
What is the best value English sparkling wine?
Greyfriars' Classic Cuvée 2015 is £30 and won WineGB gold at 95 points. Supermarket own-label bottles from Tesco Finest and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference are £22, and Chapel Down's Brut is £31 at Waitrose and Tesco. For a wider range of prices, see the best value English sparkling wines.
Which English sparkling wine has won an award?
Most of the well-known houses have. Of the 12 wines in this guide, nine won a gold medal or a trophy at WineGB, Decanter or the International Wine Challenge in 2025 or 2026, and the other three have silvers or a trophy for another wine from the same house.
What is English sparkling wine called?
It is called English sparkling wine. The name Champagne is protected for wine from the Champagne region of France, so English wines made the same way, by the traditional method with the second fermentation in the bottle, are simply English sparkling wine. A classic cuvée is a house's standard blend.
Where can I buy English sparkling wine?
Direct from the vineyard, which every producer in this guide offers online, and from supermarkets: Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S all stock English sparkling wine. Own-label bottles start at about £22, and the named producers run from £31 upwards.
How much does English sparkling wine cost?
The classic cuvées in this guide cost from £30 to £48 a bottle, and supermarket own-label English sparkling wine starts at £22. Vintage and prestige bottles from the same houses are dearer.

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