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Welcome to this special episode of the English Wine Diaries, in partnership with London Wine Fair.

The 2026 London Wine Fair – taking place at Olympia London on 18th to 20th May – will, for the first time, showcase a specific country or region as the centrepiece, and this year it’s Great Britain!

There will be the largest presence of British producers in the show’s 45-year history and, of course, that includes plenty of English wine.

Visitors will be able to taste hundreds of wines from produces across the UK, attend panel discussions, such as How to Make English wine mainstream, and in an exclusive partnership with Tiny Wine, there are 84 free tasting kits showcasing a selection of standout British still red wines.

Indeed, some of you listening may have already picked up a pack and scanned the QR code, but if you’re tuning in pre-show make sure you have secured your entry ticket to the show at LondonWineFair.com so that you can snap up one of the complimentary packs from stand B60.

I spoke to the producers behind those six wines – 1276 Wines in Herefordshire, Flint Vineyard in Norfolk, Bolney Wine Estate in West Sussex, Sandridge Barton in Devon, Williams Family Wines in Cambridgeshire and Lyme Bay, which makes wines from grapes grown in Essex – to deep dive into how two red wine grapes – Pinot Noir and Pinot Noir Precoce grow and develop in different parts of the country.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.

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Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is British sommelier and entrepreneur Emily Lambert.

Emily was the first female sommelier at The Ritz in London when she was just 19 years old and was affectionately known as the Belle of English bubbles.

She rose to wider prominence after winning BBC Two’s Million Pound Menu in 2018, with chef Ruth Hansom, after pitching their British-only restaurant concept to investor Atul Kochhar.

A year later she met her partner, Danny, at Loxwood Joust – a medieval festival in the heart of Sussex – where they bonded over a shared passion for honey wine.

Together they founded Loxwood Meadworks, a company that is redefining honey wine for a contemporary audience, bringing together heritage craft with modern hospitality.

We talk about what it was like managing old school and outdated expectations as a young female in hospitality, quitting her dream job to go on TV and her hopes that honey wine will soon be seen as mainstream.

You can find out more at loxwoodmeadworks.com and by following @loxmead on Instagram

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.

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Joining me on today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries are Ashley and Tom Fahey, owners of The Terrace Rooms & Wine in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Tom was working as an independent restaurant inspector, when in 2020 he and wife Ashley – an ex-superyacht chef and cookery school manager – opened their first Terrace property with Ashley’s family in Yarmouth.

Deciding they didn’t have enough to manage during what was one of the most stressful times in history for hospitality, the couple decided to embark on a second project and in 2021 purchased St Augustine Villa at the edge of Ventnor Bay.

Originally built as a home for the local rector in the 1840s, the iconic property has been a guesthouse, lodge and hotel for over 150 years and is most famous for the visits and sketches of revolutionary Russian writer Aleksandr Herzen.

Since opening its doors as The Terrace Ventnor in 2022, the six-bed guest house, which has an emphasis on destination wine with a 1200-bottle cellar, has won numerous awards including Best UK Rosé List by Star Wine List for the past two years, Best UK B&B from the Good Hotel Guide and Best UK Wine Hotel by Decanter Magazine.

We talk about the challenges of running – and living – in a hotel – what the wine scene is like on the somewhat sleepy Isle of Wight and how the couple are trying to shift the way people perceive and drink rosé.

Keep up to date with Ashley and Tom and events at The Terrace by following them on Insatgram @the_terrace_ventnor or visit theterraceventnor.co.uk.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.