Nyetimber: English sparkling wine group aims to build a global brand
Rupert Hargreaves speaks to Eric Heerema, the boss of English sparkling wine group Nyetimber, about the group’s plans to build a global luxury group.
English sparkling wine has managed to carve out a unique niche for itself in the drinks market.
According to industry reports, the category has grown by 30 per cent since 2020, and sparkling wine producers are now exporting to over 30 countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, the area devoted to vineyards has increased by 123 per cent over the past decade, with around three-quarters dedicated to sparkling wine. In many respects, the South of England is ideally suited for this kind of production. The region shares the same chalk soil composition as the Champagne region in northern France and benefits from a cool, moderate climate and an extended growing season.
Chapel Down is the country’s largest producer, managing around 1,000 vineyard acres overall, approximately 10 per cent of the UK’s total. However, even though the market has experienced explosive growth over the past decade, it remains relatively small compared to the global Champagne market.
Chapel Down has an ambition to capture one per cent of the global Champagne market (300m bottles) by 2035 and currently has a 3.6 per cent equivalent share of Champagne sales in the UK. That illustrates how far this market has to run.
Nipping at the company’s heels is Nyetimber. The company has grown out of the 40 hectare Nyetimber Estate, which can trace its history back to the Domesday Book in 1086.
It began planting vines in 1988, making it one of the first places in the UK to do so after being purchased by Stuart and Sandy Moss in 1986. In 2006, the estate and business were acquired by Eric Heerema, who continues to manage the company to this day.
Building the foundations
While the early pioneers of English wine had shown it was possible to create a drink in the late 1980s/early 90s, the look for the category was still unclear in the mid-2000s. “When I took over in 2006, the industry had progressed a little bit, but there was still scepticism about the weather,” Heerema tells Morning Wire.
The key misconception, he says, is the UK is a wet and cold place. In reality, “It’s just warm enough,”which allows a “slow ripening [that] creates more complexity and finesse at the end.”
The slow ripening process leaves a “little bit of acid, and that long ripening creates that special quality of finesse.” In warmer regions, grapes require harvesting much sooner, “which means that the wine is still a bit green and doesn’t have the same taste and complexity.”
One of his biggest lessons in the two decades since taking over the estate is “the importance of persistence”, says Heerema. That’s especially important in a climate which can, at times, deliver crushing blows.
In the past decade, half of an entire year’s harvest has been wiped out in a single night of bad frost, not once but twice.
Unlike some of its peers, which suffered near-terminal disruption, Nyetimber was able to manage the hit by marketing different varieties and vintages, although it didn’t escape unscathed. In one year, it was unable to harvest anything, the only year in its history it’s had to write off all production.
Nyetimber’s luxury positioning
Introducing English sparkling wine to the market against competitors such as Prosecco and Champagne, which are both cheaper and more expensive, is one of the biggest challenges for Nyetimber and its peers.
Standing out in a somewhat crowded market is always difficult, in this case, it’s made more so by the fact that Champagne is so well recognised around the world.
Still, Heerema believes the category received a welcome boost after the financial crisis when consumers, who couldn’t afford Champagne, turned to Prosecco.
“Prosecco helped to open people’s minds that there’s more than just Champagne,” he says. To a certain extent, that trend has continued. English sparkling wine is not as cheap as Prosecco, nor is it as expensive as Champagne. It’s managed to carve out a niche in the market.
Nyetimber has positioned itself as a luxury brand within this space. “Nyetimber has quite a special place within the English sparkling wine market. It’s a niche product. It’s a luxury brand, and distinguishes itself in that sense from other producers,” says Heerema.
As part of this positioning, the group has invested heavily in branding, product development and diversification. Its entry-level Classic Cuvée is aged for three years, Blanc de Blancs, six years, and Prestige Cuvée, 1086 by Nyetimber, about eight to 10 years, offering products at different price points.
The group has also signed several sponsorship agreements with the likes of the Henley Regatta and British Cycling, both of which align with the group’s British luxury image.
Diversification
In 2024, the company acquired The Lakes Distillery, a whisky and gin maker in the Lake District for £71m. Earlier this year, The Lakes launched its first permanent style of sherry-led single malt English whisky: Signature.
“We have that experience of brand building, positioning, but also sales distribution, international connection, and that’s what we felt we could apply to The Lakes single malt, in particular,” says Heerema.
There are also growing international opportunities. The export market for English sparkling wine is still small, but some regions have picked up the drink faster than others. Norway, for example, has become one of Nyetimber’s biggest export markets.
“The Norwegians have a very healthy economy and also, I think there’s a certain taste to which English sparkling wine suits,” says Heerema. “That’s a unique thing, the Norwegian consumer loves us.”
The challenge is replicating this success in other markets while building the brand at home. “Everyone knows what Champagne is. Everyone knows what Scotch is. But both English sparkling wine and English whisky…are very new categories,” so it’s vital “the consumer hears the messages when they can try us. We need to get our products out to markets where people can try them. That has meant that we do a lot of marketing so people trust us,” Heerema concludes.