Sugrue South Downs

There is a wine called The Trouble with Dreams, made by an Irishman in West Sussex from chalk vineyards he has been farming since 2006, and in 2025 a magnum of the 2009 vintage of that wine was named Best in Show at the Decanter World Wine Awards. It was the first English sparkling wine ever to win that honour, the first English sparkling magnum ever to reach the top fifty wines in the world at Decanter, and, in a competition that evaluates wines from every established region on the planet, a result of extraordinary significance. Dermot Sugrue, who also makes wines named after dead relatives, a pet, and his daughter, had quietly achieved something that no one in English wine history had managed before.

Sugrue's background explains the quality, though it doesn't entirely account for it. He trained in Champagne, made wine at Nyetimber in its formative years, and then spent sixteen vintages at Wiston Estate, where his Blanc de Blancs was consistently among England's most critically admired sparkling wines. When he launched Sugrue South Downs as his own boutique label in parallel with the Wiston work, he had access to five vineyards across Sussex, including Mount Harry near Lewes, Storrington Priory, and the Bee Tree estate at Wivelsfield Green, which he purchased in 2023. Each site contributes distinct character to his blends, and Sugrue's ability to read the individual expression of each vineyard and assemble it into something coherent is central to his reputation.

The wine names are worth dwelling on. The Trouble with Dreams was named for a song. Cuvée Boz honours a pet. Dear Noodles is named for Sugrue's daughter. Cuvée Dr Brendan O'Regan memorialises a family friend. The zero-dosage Zodo is the most austere wine in the range, with a mineral salinity that strips everything non-essential from the experience and leaves you with pure chalk. Bonkers is a still Chardonnay made in years when there is enough spare material and enough spirit of adventure.

Investors in Sugrue South Downs include Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Johnson, Robin Hutson OBE, and Angela Hartnett, a list that suggests the wine world's most knowledgeable insiders have long understood what the critics confirmed in 2025. The wines are sold direct and through specialist retailers, they are served at King Charles III's state banquets, and they are, when you can find them, among the best reasons to drink English sparkling wine.