Chapel Down has hailed a “generational shift into English sparkling wine”, having dispatched over one million bottles of ‘traditional method sparkling wines’ for the first time last year.
In an upbeat trading update, the English sparkling winemaker said strong Christmas trading and its new US distribution partnership with Jackson Family Wines helped drive a better-than-expected increase in full-year sales.
The supplier said it expected to report net sales revenue of £19.4m in the year to 31 December 2025, up by 19% and “slightly ahead of guidance”.
Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA was now expected to be between £4m-4.5m, driven by an increase in underlying profitability and a “high-quality and above-average harvest yield”, Chapel Down said.
In the off-trade channel, Chapel Down sales soared by 38% to £9.4m, driven by “new listings and well-executed promotional campaigns,” as well as lapping a period of significant retailer destocking.
Chapel Down CEO James Pennefather revealed around £1.7m of the retailer’s £2.7m in additional off-trade sale revenue was attributable to new listings and in-store executions growing the rate of sale of its wines.
“We picked up some additional listings for our rosé but we also executed really well in terms of our in-store promotional activities at Easter, over the summer and again at Christmas,” he said. “We also invested more in activating the brand at a store level, and that really delivered for us.”
Chapel Down planned to invest more in shopper marketing, uplift digital marketing spend and increase PR around its luxury Kit’s Coty collection of wines in 2026, Pennefather said.
“We know that the number one driver of consumer choice in high value sparkling wine is brand awareness,” he said. “If you go back to 2023 our brand awareness was at 32% among sparkling wine drinkers, and last year it was 49%. We know that our marketing is working, and so we are increasing that investment.”
Millennial appeal
Pennefather said shopper basket data and growing “brand awareness and penetration scores” showed millennials were flocking to English wines such as those produced by Chapel Down.
“Millennials love authenticity, sustainability, craft, stories, heritage, and experiences,” he said. “English sparkling wine offers those experiences within about an hour of London.”
Moreover, there was “a real trend amongst millennials towards lighter, fresher wines” that was playing in English sparkling wine suppliers’ favour, he noted.
“All our wines have a fresh, crisp backbone to them, and so that it’s very much in line with what current millennial preferences are,” he added.
Chapel Down shares were up 1.5% in mid-morning trading.
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