English wine maps

Vintage maps of the vineyards of England and Wales capture a formative period in British winegrowing. Elisa Trimby’s exuberant 1981 pictorial map records some 300 vineyards in 27 counties, interspersed with landmarks such as the Cerne Abbas giant and Shropshire’s Iron Bridge. Surviving pioneers include Breaky Bottom, Hambledon and Three Choirs, while Tenterden became Chapel Down and Bookers became Bolney. Hugh Johnson’s 1989 map, designed by Geoffrey Bond, includes Nyetimber just a year after its first vines were planted in 1988, and before its inaugural 1992 vintage. Its 250 numbered vineyards, photographs and colourful border of contemporary wine labels evoke an industry still dominated by varieties such as Müller-Thurgau and Reichensteiner, before the later rise of Chardonnay and the Pinot grapes for sparkling wine. Together, the maps combine decorative appeal with an absorbing record of vineyards lost, surviving and just beginning.