Hot summer brings the biggest grape harvest in 43 years near Birmingham

A vineyard about 20 miles from Birmingham has picked what may be the biggest and best crop in its 43-year history, after a summer of heatwaves, and a harvest that now starts weeks earlier than it once did.

Volunteers at Halfpenny Green Wine Estate, near Bobbington in South Staffordshire, have been picking grapes every day since 25 August. Wednesday 7 October was the final day, with pickers working in 20C heat.

"They've just thrived"

Owner Clive Vickers, who founded the 30-acre vineyard with his late father, Martin, in 1983, said: "We've had four or five heatwaves. The vines are very deep rooting. They pick up all the moisture they like. They've loved all the sunshine. They've just thrived in this summer."

This year's harvest produced around 90 tonnes of grapes, expected to make around 80,000 bottles of wine. The grapes are crushed straight away in the estate's winery and fermented, and the wine will be bottled in about six months, reaching shelves next spring.

Three weeks earlier

The hot summers of 2025 and 2026 have brought picking forward. "A generation ago we used to start in early October and it has crept right the way through September, and for the last two years running we've been three weeks ahead of that," Mr Vickers said.

"This late ripening weather has been absolutely ideal, and it's nice to pick in the dry weather."

A changing climate

English wine is one of the clearest signs of how the UK's climate is changing. The Met Office says summer 2026 was provisionally the hottest on record for the UK, and that September was the joint-fourth warmest. Warmer, longer growing seasons have helped vineyards spread across southern and central England, and wine grapes now grow in places that would have been considered too cold a few decades ago.

But the same changes bring risks. Late spring frosts can still destroy buds, heavy rain at flowering can cut yields, and drought can stress young vines without deep roots. Growers say no two years are alike.

Gardens in Birmingham

Gardeners in Birmingham have noticed similar shifts, with some plants flowering earlier, fruit ripening sooner and tender plants surviving mild winters. At the same time, the drought this year has been hard on lawns, young trees and wildlife, and the Environment Agency says sustained rain is still needed for rivers and reservoirs to recover.

English wine today

There are now hundreds of commercial vineyards in England and Wales, and sparkling wines in particular have won international awards in blind tastings against Champagne. Most are in the south east, but vineyards in the Midlands and further north have shown that good wine can be made well away from the traditional heartlands, helped by warmer summers.

An award-winning estate

The family-run estate, named Winemaker of the Year at this year's Wine GB Midlands and North awards, now produces 15 wines, including still and sparkling rosé, sold in its shop and through independent merchants.