Call it sour grapes – no wine for me!

May 28 2008 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CALL me a bigot if you like, but I’ve never drunk English wine.

There’s something about the whole concept which doesn’t seem right – like the French trying to brew real ale.

The Romans introduced vineyards to England 2,000 years ago and there are now more than 350 of them in the country (vineyards that is, not Romans).

But despite this long history, I can’t shake my prejudice that wine-making in this cold, windswept land is wrong.

As I’ve never tasted English wine, I fully accept I’m in no position to comment on it. Perhaps it’s wonderful and the French don’t know what they’re missing.

However, it seems that vineyards could become more and more common in this country.

As temperatures rise, wine-making, currently only possible in the South of England, will become viable further north.

New research suggests that climate change could bring vineyards here to Yorkshire. Shiraz from Sheffield, merlot from Mirfield – what a thought.

Indeed some scientists believe that by 2080 the south of England will actually be too warm for wine-making. Parts of Hampshire and the Severn Valley could see temperature rises of 5°C – that’s enough to push grapes out of the picture and bring raisins and sultanas into play.

The interesting question is what will happen to the English attitude to weather if the country becomes a sun-kissed land.

Traditionally northerners have thought themselves to be immune to the effects of cold, in contrast to their lily-livered counterparts down south.

Famously, some supporters of Newcastle United go bare-chested to matches in the depths of winter to prove their Viking manliness. And the lasses get in on the act too, heading out for Christmas drinks in skirts which could double as belts.

But if the climate becomes significantly warmer, will northerners find another way to prove their mettle?

Perhaps callow youths will shuffle through the streets of Manchester in Parkas at the height of a Mediterranean-style summer, insisting to anyone that asks that they’re not feeling the heat.

Maybe duffel coats will become the must-have accessory every July in fashion-conscious Leeds.

It may sound like a strange idea – but no weirder than wine-making in Last of the Summer Wine country.