Every vintage has a story to tell, and 2026 has certainly kept us on our toes at Black Chalk. From an early budburst and a challenging spell of April frosts to a long, hot summer with barely a drop of rain, this was a growing season that demanded plenty from our vines and our vineyard team.
The result? Our earliest harvest ever, fruit full of promise, and a vintage that has reminded us just how important timing is when making English sparkling wine.
A season of extremes
Following the challenges of 2025, we weren’t quite sure what to expect from the year ahead. England’s weather has a habit of keeping us guessing, and 2026 was no exception.
An early budburst was followed by April frosts, with some blocks losing up to 30% of their potential crop. The prolonged period of frost made for an uneven start to the season, creating plenty of challenges for our vineyard team as they assessed the damage and worked to manage the vines through a fluctuating spring.
Then came the heat.
Summer brought extraordinary sunshine and very little rainfall, with around 60 days without a drop of rain. Flowering went well, although it was extended by the earlier frosts, and the warmth encouraged vigorous canopy growth. Managing the vines through the heat required careful planning, with the team starting work in the early hours to make the most of the cooler mornings.
Fortunately, our chalk soils proved their worth once again. The vines coped remarkably well with the dry conditions, drawing on the benefits of our chalk-rich terroir even as the heat put the vineyard under pressure.
The race to ripeness
As summer progressed, the fruit developed quickly. Sugar levels climbed while acidity remained high, creating an exciting but delicate balancing act.
For sparkling wine, that balance is everything. Picking too early or too late can have a significant impact on the finished wine, so the question throughout the season was simple: when is the right moment to pick?
With each block progressing at its own pace, there was no room for a one-size-fits-all approach. The team monitored the fruit closely, weighing up chemistry, flavour development and the ever-changing weather to determine the ideal picking window for each parcel.
As Jacob Leadley, CEO and Winemaker at Black Chalk, explains:
“Ultimately, it became a vintage where timing was everything. We had to be very precise about when each block was ready, and the team worked hard to pick the fruit at the point where we felt it had the best balance and potential.”
It was a fast-moving end to the season, with ripening progressing at a remarkable pace. And yes, despite our suspicions that we say this every year, 2026 officially became our earliest harvest ever.
Running the gauntlet
For Gwil Cooper, our Vineyard Manager, the season was a test of resilience from the very beginning.
“This growing season felt like running a gauntlet, with everything being thrown at us right from the start. We had a long and arduous period of frost, followed by some challenging windows in which to assess and manage the damage caused by multiple mornings reaching -2°C. It was a testing time for the vineyard team.”
Despite the challenges, there were plenty of encouraging signs as the season unfolded. Flowering was successful, the summer heat helped the remaining canopy develop, and some blocks produced surprisingly large bunches.
As harvest approached, the focus shifted to keeping a close eye on every parcel and making sure the fruit came into the winery at its optimum point.
“It was certainly a demanding season, but seeing the fruit come into the winery made all the hard work worthwhile. There was a real sense of excitement as we saw the quality of the grapes we had managed to bring in, particularly given everything the vines had been through earlier in the year.”
It’s a sentiment shared across the team. After months of navigating frost, heat and rapid ripening, seeing the quality of the fruit at the winery was a hugely rewarding moment.
So, what can we expect from V.7?
While it’s still early days for the wines, the quality of the fruit brought into the winery has been hugely encouraging. High natural acidity alongside excellent sugar levels has given us plenty to be excited about, with the potential for wines that capture both the freshness and concentration of the vintage.
Of course, the final character of V.7 will take time to reveal itself. There is plenty of work still to come in the winery, and we’ll be watching closely as the wines begin to develop.
What we do know is that 2026 has been a vintage of contrasts: frost and sunshine, pressure and promise, and plenty of moments that called for careful decisions. It has tested the team, rewarded close attention to detail and once again demonstrated the importance of our chalk soils.
Most of all, it has left us feeling excited about what’s to come.
The heat was on, the harvest came early, and V.7 is officially underway. We can’t wait to see where this vintage takes us.
Cheers from all of us at Black Chalk Wine! 🍾
