English vineyards are built around a small group of early-ripening grape varieties, because English autumns arrive quickly and wetly. The most widely planted are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Bacchus, with newer disease-resistant varieties now appearing alongside them. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are often referred to as the 'Champagne trio' as they three grape varieties are traditionally used as a blend for classic Champagne and English sparkling wine.
At Dillions we grow Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce, Pinot Meunier, Cabaret Noir and Chardonnay planted across 9 of our 15 acres in the High Weald of West Sussex.
Why English vineyards grow early-ripening grapes
Growing grapes in a cool climate presents a range of challenges and achieving correct ripeness and acidity levels is perhaps the greatest challenge of all.
A variety that needs another fortnight in October is a variety that will sometimes lose the crop due to disease. That single constraint explains almost every planting decision in the country: the grapes that succeed here are the ones that get there early, hold their acidity, and can cope with a wet summer.
2024 made the point plainly. September brought nearly three times its average rainfall across our region, the second wettest on record. Varieties that had already reached ripeness came through. Anything still waiting was in difficulty.
The varieties we grow are considered to be early to early-mid ripening carefully selected to perform well in Sussex. Varietes like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc are considered to be late to mid-late ripening and much more challenging to grow in the UK.
The Pinot family: Noir, Précoce and Meunier
Three of the varieties we grow are very closely linked. Pinot Noir Précoce and Pinot Meunier are natural mutations of Pinot Noir rather than separate crossings, which is why they look so alike in the vineyard.
The differences are small but very significant. Précoce ripens roughly two to three weeks ahead of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier buds later and ripens earlier, dodging frost at one end of the season and rain at the other. Growing all three gives us a range of options in terms of wine making and helps to mitigate some of the weather related risks.
Why dark grapes make white and rosé wine
All three Pinots have dark skins and colourless juice. Press them gently and take the juice off the skins quickly and you get white or pale pink wine. Leave it in contact with the skins and you get colour and tannin.
That is the mechanism behind every Blanc de Noirs and most rosé, including ours. Our dark skin grapes allow us to make a range of wines depending on weather conditions affecting ripeness and acidity. In cooler years these can be used in our sparkling wines and warm years, like 2026, all of our dark grapes were used in rose and red wines.
Disease-resistant grape varieties in England
A newer group of varieties is now being planted in England, bred specifically to resist the fungal diseases that thrive in wet summers. They are known as PIWIs, from the German pilzwiderstandsfähig, meaning fungus-resistant.The appeal is straightforward. A vine that resists mildew needs fewer treatments, which means fewer passes through the vineyard and less input. We have a small number of just 400 of these vines that contribute towards our red wine.
The five varieties we grow:
Bacchus
England’s defining still white grape, and our only white variety. Early-ripening and aromatic, with elderflower, nettle and citrus character. The sole grape in our Bacchus.
Pinot Noir
The great red grape of Burgundy and Champagne, grown in England for sparkling, rosé and increasingly still red. 45% of our Pinot Rosé, and part of our Noir.
Pinot Noir Précoce
An early-ripening mutation of Pinot Noir, and 40% of our rosé. The head start is its entire reason for being here.
Grape Varieties FAQs
What is the most planted grape in England?
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the two most widely planted, reflecting how much English production goes into traditional method sparkling wine. Bacchus is the leading variety for still white wine.
What grapes are used to make English wine?
The most widely planted are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Bacchus. Chardonnay and the Pinots go largely into sparkling wine, while Bacchus is England’s defining still white. Early-ripening varieties dominate because English autumns are short and wet.
What grapes does Dillions grow?
Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce, Pinot Meunier and Cabaret Noir, across 25 acres planted from 2019 in the High Weald of West Sussex.
What is the difference between Pinot Noir and Pinot Noir Précoce?
Précoce is a natural mutation of Pinot Noir that ripens roughly two to three weeks earlier. The vines and fruit look almost identical, but that head start makes Précoce far better suited to cool climates with short autumns.
Why is it called Pinot Meunier?
Meunier is French for miller. The undersides of its leaves carry a fine white down that looks as though the vine has been dusted with flour.
Do dark grapes always make red wine?
No. Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce and Pinot Meunier all have colourless juice beneath dark skins, so they can make white, rosé or red wine depending on how long the juice stays in contact with the skins.