Mental Floss

You Can Buy Wine Made From the Queen’s Royal Vineyard

By Michele Debczak

Windsor Castle. Image credit: Diliff via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 3.0
Windsor Castle. Image credit: Diliff via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 3.0 / Windsor Castle. Image credit: Diliff via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 3.0
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February 6, 2017 marks a special date in British history. It’s the 65-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s royal rule, making her the first-ever British monarch to reach her Sapphire Jubilee. And what better way to celebrate than with champagne made from grapes grown on the Queen’s estate?

For many non-royals, sipping a glass of Windsor Vineyard English Quality Sparking Wine is the closest they can get to wining and dining with the Queen. Food and Wine reports that Laithwaite’s, the largest wine retailer in the UK, received the green light to plant its vineyard at the royal Windsor Great Park in 2011. Queen Elizabeth II isn’t the first monarch to approve a vineyard at Windsor: Henry II grew grapes of his own there in the twelfth century. But this will be the first time modern palates will get to taste wine from the property.

A couple of years after the new vineyard was planted, vines were producing champagne varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes right outside Windsor Castle. The first batch of the Queen’s two-year-aged wines was ready to hit stores by the end of 2016.

But the product didn’t remain on the shelves for very long: All 3000 bottles of Her Majesty’s English fizz have already sold out. Fortunately for fans of all things Royal, the vineyard is set to be churning out 20,000 bottles worth of grapes annually in six or seven years. The next round of wine, which will market for £35 (about $43) a bottle, is already available for pre-order ahead of its release in fall of 2017.

[h/t Food and Wine]