Skip to content
WineHQ
Search

Administrative area · England

East Anglia

Norfolk and Suffolk, dry and comparatively continental, with a focus on aromatic still whites.

coolmaritimecontinental

About East Anglia

East Anglia’s low rainfall suits viticulture, and the region has a particular association with Bacchus, England’s most distinctive still white variety.

Bacchus grown here is typically aromatic and herbaceous — elderflower, nettle, grapefruit — and is often compared to Sauvignon Blanc despite being a different grape with a different lineage.

East Anglia is a administrative area, not an appellation

No authority delimits this name or attaches rules to it. A political unit — an Italian region, an English county, a US county — used as a wine area because that is how the industry and its readers talk about it, not because a wine authority delimited it. That does not make it less real or less useful — it means nothing legal follows from it, and you will not generally find it on a label as a controlled designation.

Grapes

Wines from here

white

English Bacchus

England’s signature still white: elderflower, nettle and grapefruit — often compared to Sauvignon Blanc, but its own thing.

white

English still white

A growing category beyond Bacchus — still Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and blends, viable as growing-season warmth has increased.

Climate

The driest part of the United Kingdom, with rainfall well below the national average and a continental edge to its climate. Warm summers and low disease pressure suit still wine as much as sparkling.

These are influences on how a wine turns out, not determinants of it. Picking date, yield, vine age and every winemaking decision sit between the climate and the glass.

Soil and geology

Chalk beneath boulder clay, with sand and gravel in the river valleys. The heavier clay soils warm slowly, which delays budburst and offers some frost protection.

WineHQ describes soil in terms of what it demonstrably does — drainage, heat retention, water supply, rooting depth — and not in terms of flavours it is said to transmit. Vines take up ions, not aromas, and no mechanism has been demonstrated by which a mineral in the ground is tasted in the glass. See soil and drainage.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

English Bacchus

Serve at 8–10°C (fridge cold).

Try with asparagus, fillet steak or salmon.

English still white

Serve at 8–11°C (fridge cold).

Try with mackerel, fillet steak or salmon.

Figures here change annually

This region’s industry statistics are classed as volatile and are reviewed each year. Any figure shown carries the date it was consulted.

Sources

Sources consulted