Wine producers in the UK intend to increase exports by ten-fold by 2020, and have claimed strong early progress, with bottles of English and Welsh sparkling wine being exported to 27 countries in 2016.
Even France and Italy, which produce Champagne and Prosecco, imported a few bottles of UK sparkling wine in 2016, according to a new report by the government, which said that English and Welsh sparkling wine was exported to 27 different countries last year, compared with 19 a year earlier.
IN 2015, the UK only exported around 250,000 bottles of wine, while champagne alone exported 150 million bottles.