England becoming test bed for rule changes in Champagne

Champagne house Vranken-Pommery, owner of Pinglestone Estate in Hampshire, has been using England's more lenient vineyard spacing to understand new rule changes in Champagne.

Champagne has historically required vine densities of at least 8,000 vines per hectare, but this has been dropped recently to 6,000 vines, which is hoped will increase air circulation and reduce chemical inputs and CO2 emissions.

England rules have allowed 5,000 vines/ha and so Vranken-Pommery has used Pinglestone Estate in Hampshire to understand the implications of the reduction.

Pommery was the first Champagne house to release its own English Sparkling Wine. It was launched under the Louis Pommery label in the spring of 2018, originally made from the 2015 harvest with bought in fruit from Kent, Sussex and Hampshire.