There was no Champagne served at the recent state banquet for President Obama’s visit to Britain. Instead, the world’s most powerful man was treated to a sparkling white from Sussex. Doesn’t sound terribly glamorous, does it? Well, the English would beg to differ.

Champagne is a cool climate region, which is what helps achieve that refreshing trademark acidity. Vineyards on the south coast of England are just a couple of hundred miles from the Champagne region. The climate is similar and the soil is perfectly suited to grapes used in the production of sparkling wine and this has seen a considerable rise in the plantings of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.

The rise in quality sparkling wine in England has much to do with improved winemaking expertise. Richard Balfour-Lynn is one of England’s top winemakers. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he believes that the UK government needs to do more to make their domestic products more competitive with that of other New World countries.

‘The UK pays the same duty rates as the other European countries and this make it more difficult for English wines to compete against wines from Chile, South Africa or Australia. For English still wines to succeed quality must be protected and the prices need to be competitive – and without some sort of Government subsidy on duty this may prove difficult.’

One of his main concerns is over competitiveness of the English still wines in particular, as for the best part they do not have as good a price – quality ratio. Quality wines from South Africa and Chile are produced much more cheaply due to lower operating costs. Sparkling wines competing on a level of quality similar to Champagne will not be quite as price sensitive because Champagne already attracts a premium margin.

While the New World continues to take the fight to the traditional, some might say, awkward and one- dimensional, Old World producers, it is perhaps the New World who should also be watching their backs, as two of our close neighbours, England and Wales (pictured), are preparing to shake the industry worldwide.

It’s fair to say, nothing is going to happen overnight, but whatever the cause is, our climate is changing and what might define a world class grape growing region today in terms of the optimum climate, we may see an area closer to home benefiting from grape friendly weather in years to come.

We’re expecting great things of our greenhouse ‘grapevine’ experiment. More on that at a later date, but can you seriously imagine a Riesling from Wexford, or a Pinot Noir from Cork?

Already, parts of southern England are being compared with Champagne, and from what I hear, English sparkling wine is not one to be mixing with 7UP these days. More on England here.

Harpers Wine & Spirit recently reported that the Welsh government is attempting to gear their industry toward future success in the business by learning a few tricks from New Zealand. New Zealand’s North Island has been compared to Wales for climate and soil make-up, and the Kiwi nation has seen tremendous growth by small producers over a relatively short period of time. The cider and beer sectors have also been cited as underdeveloped industries in Wales.

Among other up and coming wine nations, Romania, Croatia, Greece – technically Old World countries, but very much unable to fulfil their undoubted potential just yet. It’s not only about the quality of the wines, it’s got a lot to do with the marketing of them.

Poland is another one showing promise. Although the recession has slowed sales growth, Poland’s wine industry is expected to recover quickly and bounce back stronger than before. A growth of 3% is expected in their wine market this year, much better than many others.

So who will rise to the top and who will fall? Will it take a decade, or will it be less before we see real changes? With emerging consumer markets such as China and India, and the French still refusing to market themselves properly, there’s plenty to play for, and as a consumer, plenty to be curious about.

When used in the same sentence, those two words, “English” and “wine” were once followed by a menacing snigger and a contemptuous remark. Well, fellow Irish drinkers, not any more.

English wines haven’t exactly been flooding the Irish market, and neither have they been dominating markets elsewhere, including their own, but we’re talking about very small production here (2 million bottles in comparison to almost 7 billion from France), which naturally incurs a higher price. So no, you’re not going to see the English competing with the sub €6 supermarket brands any time soon.

Global warming is said to be partly to thank for English wines being taken more seriously. With a warmer, drier climate and a slight change in the length of each season, grapes are allowed to ripen more easily. Parts of southern England have been compared to Champagne in terms of climate, and in some areas, the soils don’t differ too much either. No wonder the sparkling wines in particular are gaining special notoriety.

According to the guardian.co.uk, English supermarket chain, Waitrose (the largest retailer of English wines), reported a 163% year-on-year rise in sales of locally stocked English sparkling wines and a 97% rise in sales of nationally produced wine. It has also seen a 50% rise in sales of still wines.

Some English vintners have also enjoyed great success abroad, so there’s no doubting experience and talent in the ranks. For example, a favourite winery of Oz Clarke and Gordon Ramsay is Chateau Bauduc in Bordeaux, run by Englishman Gavin Quinney. But the English have also managed to gain experience on their home patch, and by all accounts it’s really starting to show.

2009 is expected to be one of England’s best vintages, and when this grape growing climate finally hits the southern tip of Ireland, they may just be the people to call on for some sound advice.

Click here to view the recent and relevant guardian.co.uk article on English wine. The above picture is of the successful Surrey based winery, Denbies.