Wiesbaden, Germany (14 January 2022): German sparkling wine giant Henkell Freixenet is entering the high-quality English sparkling wine business with the acquisition of Bolney Wine Estate.
This emerging category is regarded by some experts as “the new Champagne”, and, in the last few years, English Sparkling Wine has been experiencing high growth (Value growth +56% IRI MAT to 28/11/21).
Bolney Wine Estate is considered one of the pioneers among the estates in England. The winery, located near Brighton, was founded in 1972 by Janet and Rodney Pratt and is now run by their daughter Samantha Linter. Bolney has a portfolio of first-class sparkling and still wines that have won several awards. Most recently, it won the prestigious UK Glass of Bubbly sustainability award.
“As producers of Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Prosecco and sparkling wines of various origins, we are delighted to add English Sparkling Wine, a still young, prestigious sparkling wine speciality to our ‘Pearls of Europe’. We are convinced that as the global market leader in the sparkling wine market, we can further strengthen the image of English sparkling nationally and internationally,” said Henkell Freixenet CEO Dr Andreas Brokemper.
The brand will be distributed by Freixenet Copestick, the UK and Ireland arm of Henkell Freixenet. Freixenet Copestick managing director Robin Copestick commented: “When we first saw Bolney Wine Estate, we were sure we had found the perfect winery. The sparkling wines are excellent and the business is excellently run by Samantha Linter. She will work closely with the Henkell Freixenet and Freixenet Copestick teams as managing director. Together we aim to realise the opportunities presented by English sparkling wine and continue to grow Bolney Wine Estate’s position.”
[] In other company news, Freixenet, the world’s leading Cava brand, set a record on 15 December when it crossed the 100m bottle sales threshold for the first time in its more than 150-year history. Freixenet is expecting to report another increase to 105m bottles by the end of the year.
