Britain’s biggest wine producer celebrated a Christmas sales surge as drinkers switched from Champagne.
Chapel Down sold 7 per cent more of its bottles, magnums and cases this Christmas than last.
‘The growth of English sparkling wine is very strong,’ outgoing chief executive Andrew Carter said.
‘Much of that is coming from Champagne.’
In his final update before he leaves next week to take over at brewer Timothy Taylor, he added: ‘Even in the tougher times, people still want to celebrate and enjoy themselves.’
The shares rose 1.4 per cent, or 05p, to 37p, although annual sales fell by 5 per cent to £16.3million.
Lovely bubbly: Chapel Down, which owns about a tenth of the vineyard space in England, said it sold 7%more of its bottles, magnums and cases this Christmas than last
In October, it took a £750,000 hit because of 2024’s difficult harvest, which hurt all winemakers because of wet weather throughout the summer.
Nonetheless, the group said it planted 118 acres of vines, taking total acres to 1,024, about 10 per cent of the UK’s acreage.
It ditched efforts to sell the company over the summer and now Carter’s replacement, James Pennefather, joins from whisky firm The Lakes Distillery.
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