{"id":52074,"date":"2025-03-21T10:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T09:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/?p=52074"},"modified":"2025-10-13T11:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T09:20:40","slug":"levaluation-dans-lindustrie-du-vin-et-pourquoi-le-vin-anglais-nest-pas-un-sujet-de-plaisanterie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accuracy.com\/fr\/valuation-in-the-wine-industry-and-why-english-wine-is-no-laughing-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"L'\u00e9valuation dans l'industrie du vin (et pourquoi le vin anglais n'est pas un sujet de plaisanterie)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A tale of two terroirs: is English sparkling giving champagne a hangover?<\/strong><\/p>

A Frenchman walks into a bar and says, \u201cI\u2019ll have some English wine\u201d.<\/em> It may sound like the opening to a joke but, despite the well-placed Gallic pride in their wine industry, the idea isn\u2019t as preposterous as it might sound.<\/p>

In 2023, Chapel Down, one of England\u2019s leading wine producers, went undercover as \u201cChapelle le Bas\u201d at a blind tasting held on the streets of Reims, the unofficial capital of France\u2019s Champagne region. The results were a triumph for the Kent-based winery \u2013 60% of consumers preferred the taste of its sparkling wine to that of the world-renowned Mo\u00ebt et Chandon Brut Imp\u00e9rial.<\/p>

While the reveal may have shocked the locals, it was another indicator of UK wine\u2019s burgeoning presence both domestically and internationally. 2023 was a bumper year for English wine production, where \u201cnear perfect\u201d conditions produced the equivalent of 21.6 million bottles, up 77% on 2022 and 50% higher than the previous record year in 2018. Meanwhile, the number of UK vineyards topped 1,000 for the first time and hectarage in production grew 151% between 2018 and 2023.[1]<\/a> [2]<\/a> [3]<\/a><\/p>

So, why the surge in popularity? The UK\u2019s wine industry is primarily located in south-east England, with Kent and Sussex accounting for over 50% of plantings. While climate change and extreme weather conditions have hit production in traditional wine-making countries such as Spain and Italy, warmer temperatures have benefitted UK producers as conditions increasingly resemble those in some of the vinicultural heartlands of Europe. The well-draining, chalky soils of the UK\u2019s wine-growing areas bear similarities to those found in Champagne and are particularly favourable for producing sparkling wine, which makes up approximately three-quarters of total UK production.<\/p>

Although the UK still has a way to go to catch up with more established wine-producing regions (France produces 7-8 billion bottles per year, of which 300 million in Champagne alone), perceptions are changing. Historically, English wine was generally considered to be less flavoursome and of lower quality than its more celebrated peers. In recent years, however, UK producers have increasingly garnered the plaudits on the international stage; 143 wineries won awards at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards, including a \u201cBest in Show\u201d for Gusbourne\u2019s Blanc de Blancs 2018 and a Platinum medal for Ridgeview\u2019s Ros\u00e9 de Noirs Brut 2018.[4]<\/a><\/p>

With English wine on the up, investors are increasingly seeing it as an attractive investment opportunity. \u00a0English sparkling wine producers are not only expanding their own holdings but attracting interest from major wine industry actors looking to diversify into a growing market with untapped potential. In 2015, the champagne house Taittinger partnered with Hatch Mansfield to acquire 125 hectares of land in Kent and create the sparkling wine brand Domaine Evremond, whose first vintage is set to be released during 2025. Pommery, another well-known champagne house, owns a 40-hectare vineyard in Hampshire and sells \u201cEngland Brut\u201d under the Pommery brand. Other significant recent UK wine industry transactions include Freixenet Copestick\u2019s acquisition of Bolney Wine Estate in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, while Berry Bros & Rudd and Symington Family Estates acquired Hambledon Vineyard in 2023 in a 50\/50 joint venture worth \u00a322.3 million.<\/p>

Liquid assets: Uncorking the intricacies of winery valuations <\/strong><\/p>

Winery valuations may be required in a variety of contexts, including M&A transactions, legal disputes (including high-net-worth divorce cases), inheritance proceedings or for tax purposes. Traditional valuation approaches can be applied to the wine industry, although consideration must be given to the specificities of the winery being valued when selecting the most appropriate valuation method.<\/p>

An asset approach<\/em><\/strong> can be used to determine a winery\u2019s value based on the fair market value (FMV) of its tangible and intangible assets:<\/p>