Description

***A New York Times pick for best wine book of 2023!***

‘A tour de force!’ – Jancis Robinson

‘Henry Jeffreys, who used to work in the wine trade, is an amiable and entertaining guide to ‘the English wine revolution” – Daily Mail

‘A fascinating and superbly told adventure’ – Independent

‘A tremendously gossipy but adroitly helmed examination of where English wine istoday and how it got there’ – Telegraph

‘An invaluable guide’ – Evening Standard

‘Delightful details make the book sing’ – Times Literary Supplement

‘A page-turner’ – Financial Times

‘Mr. Jeffreys, an English drinks writer, has done an excellent job of telling the story of the quirky characters and visionaries behind the first wave of modern English wines in the 1980s and ’90s’ – New York Times

The definitive story of the extraordinary and surprising success of English wine – and the people who transformed our reputation on the global stage from that of a joke to world-class in 30 years.

From an amateur affair made by retirees to a multi-million-pound industry with quality to rival Champagne, the rise of English wine has been one of the more unexpected wine stories of the past 30 years. In this illuminating and accessible account, award-winning drinks writer Henry Jeffreys takes you behind the scenes of the English wine revolution. It’s a story about changing climate and technology but most of all it’s about men and women with vision, determination and more than a little bloody-mindedness. From secretive billionaires to the single mother farming a couple of hectares in Kent, these are the people making wine in a cold climate.

Publisher Review

Captivating, impeccably researched and endlessly entertaining. Henry Jeffreys embraces his subject like a scholar but with wry humour and a novelist's knack for storytelling. It's the best book on wine I have read. -- Russell Norman This is my favourite type of book. One that tells a story that you knew was happening but had yet to have the pieces put together by a skilful and engaging writer. -- Stephen Harris, Michelin-starred chef and writer Jeffreys' entertaining, accessible and skilfully paced book helps us relish the English countryside's delicious new calling. -- Andrew Jefford, wine writer and author of Drinking with the Valkyries [Jeffreys has] done a great job of highlighting the peculiar Britishness of the whole endeavour, and it's shot through with the wry humour that makes his writing so enjoyable -- Matt Walls, contributing editor Decanter magazine Jeffreys has written quite a fine book on a subject that's already been covered a great deal to date. He makes it fresh and vibrant through firsthand research and interviews as well as his many years as a drinks writer . . . If he doesn't win some awards (and ideally coin as well) from this book, then the world has gone sideways, yet again. -- Miquel Hudin * Hudin * A fine history of how English wine 'went from joke to world class' in a matter of decades. [...] It's also a masterclass in proper journalism. [...] Witty and erudite. -- Adam Lechmere * Club Oenologique * Until I read this interesting book, I had no idea that the postcode in which I live in northeast Essex is the finest terroir for wine in the country. -- Simon Heffer * Literary Review *