Fruit & Vine team will see you at Viti-Culture Live!

Taking place at Plumpton College on 1st June 2023, Viti-Culture is a free-to-attend event for the whole wine industry, from soil to cellar. Fruit & Vine will be there, to chat with growers, producers, processors and packaging experts

Viti-Culture is a one day free-to-attend event that focuses on technical developers, innovators, suppliers and services directly or indirectly involved in wine production, and provides a showcase for interested and prospective growers to come and speak to experts and nd out more about any aspect of wine production.

Hosted by the centre of excellence for wine education, Plumpton College, visitors can also tour the state-of-the-art facilities on site which brings every aspect of research, teaching and production to life. Whether you have an already established vineyard and winery, are looking to plant, or want to invest in your own production facilities, there are numerous exhibitors from vineyard consultants to land agents, specialist machinery manufacturers and dealers, winery equipment suppliers, agronomists, brand and packaging specialists, and professional service providers, all available to advise on every aspect of establishing and managing a vineyard, not to mention producing, packaging and marketing the wines. Alongside all of this, there is also a full itinerary of seminars throughout the day that previous visitors have come to expect.

For 2023, Viti-Culture has extended its annual wine industry event into the late afternoon, incorporating an English and Welsh Wine Fair and ticketed wine-tasting masterclass with the Three Wine Men’s Tom Surgey and Oz Clarke OBE, who is also the show patron.

This supporter, buyer and consumer wine tasting fair, open from 4pm, has been developed to provide an opportunity for wine-lovers to sample the everexpanding array of wines now available from the UK and speak to the producers behind them. As the patron and an extremely high-pro le wine expert Oz Clarke will co-host the event. He will be joined by Tom Surgey, also well-known as an expert wine presenter.

Oz and Tom will welcome guests to the tasting and give a brief introductory speech at the beginning of the tasting. They will then mingle among the guests introducing them to the range of wines available at stands and endeavour to visit all stands and introduce visitors to as many producers and wines as possible during the event.

The show organisers will also be supplying a shuttle minibus to Lewes town centre and station to encourage attendance from the locality and out of area visitors.

In addition to the English and Welsh Wine Fair, there will be a paid-for wine and cheese pairing masterclass led by Oz and Tom. Tickets need to be pre-booked for this session, and are available to book up until one week before the event, or until they are sold out. Tickets cost £48 each and are available now via www.viti-culture.com

There will be two debates led by Plumpton College Wine Division, and seminars including 'Regenerative Viticulture' led by Justin HowardSneyd and a 'PiWi from grape to glass' focused session of three talks led by Professor Greg Dunn from Plumpton College Wine Division.

There are now around 900 vineyards in the UK, 500 of which are commercial. This growing industry within the UK will provide many career opportunities for the next generation.

Plumpton Wine Centre is considered to be the centre of excellence for wine education in the UK, and so the organisers of Viti-Culture say they are looking forward to welcoming degree students from across the country. What better way to future-proof your business than by forging links now with the future of the industry?

Plumpton will be hosting a Careers in Wine area within the exhibitor space throughout the day and prospective, future, current and past students will be invited to attend the event by both Viti-Culture and the college, giving them the opportunity to discuss their career in wine and network with producers.

Plumpton College Wine Division Tours are available to book in the 'add-ons' section of the tickets.

Agricare told Fruit & Vine they are excited to be exhibiting at the Viti-Culture show this year, and are looking forward to meeting with so many people who are all passionate about the UK’s vines and wines.

Agricare will be showcasing some of the top industry brands, including:

Infaco, who manufactured the world’s rst ever electric pruning shear in 1984 before developing many models since then with the impressive F3020 being the latest option. There will be live demonstrations on the company’s stand.

The Bellota range, which includes a cordless pruning shear and a very popular cordless tying machine. Both these products will be demonstrated live, so pop by the Agricare stand and give them a try.

Agricare is now responsible for promoting the Fruit Security Crop Protection systems in the UK, and will be joined by Gerben van Veldhuizen – the founder of Fruit Security –who will be pleased to demonstrate how its systems can safeguard your vines from frost, rain and hail, etc.

Carmo wooden posts are the ultimate posts to support your vines for many years to come. According to Agricare, not only do they look great, but they are guaranteed for 20 years against premature decay. If you’re wondering how a wooden post can be guaranteed for that long, pay Agricare's stand a visit and you will be able to see why.