In this difficult week for the US and for Britain, with terrible news on both sides of the Atlantic, I thought about British sparkling wine. The first one I tried years ago was the product above Nyetimber. Today I was googling British sparkling wine and came upon a website and association dedicated to just that, British wine producers.   How things have changed. It is no long even considered such a novelty but is part of the wine landscape.

I also had no idea that it had been English wine week. According to the website, “English Wine Producers (EWP) are celebrating a record uptake of activity in English Wine Week this year, with the number of participants from both on- and off-trade more than doubling on 2015.” The website is chock full of history about wine in the British isles for over the centuries. It also lists all of the producers that are members of the association. It’s fun to think of Britain in these terms. I usually think of the countries that border the Mediterranean when I think of European wine producing countries. Of course climate change has and will continue to modify where grapes can and should be grown. I do hope that when mentioning Britain, I can continue to talk about Europe, after next week’s referendum. As a student of international relations at SAIS John’s Hopkins, it’s hard to imagine Brexit as a good thing for anyone. That’s my two cents on the topic made all the more complex after the death of a young MP, mother of two children, killed allegedly by a supporter of leaving the EU. What a world. Where are we going with this level of violence. I know this is a wine blog but I can’t stand. As mom to a young son, I wonder what I will teach him as he grows about the world we live in and what to expect next.