Vineyard May 2020

VINEYARD for viticulturists in Great Britain ™

MAY 2020

EDITOR’S VISIT Montgomery Vineyard

MATTHEW JUKES WINE REVIEW Looking North

IN CONVERSATION Beth Kelly Marks and Spencer

DEFINING MOMENTS Kent contract winemaker is on a roll

VINEYARD CONSULTANTS • Planning Applications

• Site Finding

• Site Aquisition

• Leases

• Grants •

Matthew Berryman 07710 765323 matthew@c-l-m.co.uk

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VINEYARD for viticulturists in Great Britain

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www.vineyardmagazine.co.uk VINEYARD Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court Yalding Hill, Yalding, Maidstone, Kent, ME18 6AL 01959 541444 EDITORIAL Editor: Rebecca Chaplin vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk Studio Manager: Jo Legg jo.legg@kelsey.co.uk Graphic Designer: James Pitchford james.pitchford@kelsey.co.uk ADVERTISEMENT SALES Simon Hyland Talk Media Sales Ltd 01732 445327 Simon.Hyland@talkmediasales.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHER Martin Apps www.countrywidephotographic.co.uk MANAGEMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Steve Wright CHIEF OPERATING Officer: Phil Weeden MANAGING DIRECTOR: Kevin McCormick PUBLISHER: Jamie McGrorty RETAIL DIRECTOR: Steve Brown RENEWALS AND PROJECTS MANAGER: Andy Cotton SENIOR SUBSCRIPTION MARKETING MANAGER: Nick McIntosh SUBSCRIPTION MARKETING DIRECTOR: Gill Lambert SUBSCRIPTION MARKETING MANAGER: Kate Chamberlain SENIOR PRINT PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Georgina Harris PRINT PRODUCTION CONTROLLER: Kelly Orriss DISTRIBUTION Distribution in Great Britain: Marketforce (UK) 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU Tel: 020 3787 9001 PRINTING Precision Colour Print Kelsey Media 2020 © all rights reserved. Kelsey Media is a trading name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden except with permission in writing from the publishers. Note to contributors: articles submitted for consideration by the editor must be the original work of the author and not previously published.

Where photographs are included, which are not the property of the contributor, permission to reproduce them must have been obtained from the owner of the copyright. The editor cannot guarantee a personal response to all letters and emails received. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Publisher. Kelsey Publishing Ltd accepts no liability for products and services offered by third parties.

Kelsey Media takes your personal data very seriously. For more information of our privacy policy, please visit Kelsey Media takes your personal data very seriously. For more information of our privacy policy, please visit https://www.kelsey.co.uk/privacy-policy/ . If at any point you have any queries regarding Kelsey’s data policy you can email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@kelsey.co.uk.

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NEWS 8

Limited-edition cuvée released

10

Big changes at Lyme Bay

12 14 15

Viti-Culture Live New podcast Around the world

REGULARS 20

Matthew Jukes’ wine review Looking North.

40

Filling technology ups quality

Advances in filling and sanitisation technologies.

42

The agronomy diary

43

The vine post

44

Representing you

Keep disease guard up as flowering approaches.

Services continue for the season ahead.

Updates from the industry’s membership organisation.

51 Strong growth in

machinery supplies

Front cover image: Countrywide Photographic

 twitter facebook

vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk @VineyardMagGB VineyardMagGB

CONTENTS Features

18 22 32 46

In conversation We get Elizabeth Kelly's thoughts on the industry as a newly accredited Master of Wine.

Editor’s Visit Montgomery Vineyard has cashed in on the previously unworked land and planted its vines on high ground.

Defy and define Contract wine makers Defined Wine continue to release products with high praise. We go behind the scenes to find out how they do it.

Wined, sealed, delivered As wine by post grows under lockdown, we get some top tips on how you can ensure it makes it to the end user.

Re b

The Vineyard specialists It’s our people that make the difference TURRIFF

FORFAR

ALNWICK

CARLISLE

WEST MIDLANDS /SOUTH WEST Ledbury: (01531) 631131

EAST ANGLIA Wisbech: (01945) 461177

ORMSKIRK DORRINGTON SPALDING SHREWSBURY

WISBECH

EAST HARLING

SOHAM LEDBURY

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SOUTH EAST Canterbury: Sundries enquiries (01227) 830064 PRODUCE PACKAGING Marden: (01622) 831423

TRURO

We’ve continued to see more growth in the vineyard this month, but it also feels like the first green shoots of some sort of recovery are beginning to show.

It’s certainly not the spring we expected. We should have been just days away from the London Wine Fair as this issue goes to print, but at least we now know that we will still be able to attend Viti-Culture Live on 9 July – however, not quite as we thought.

The show will now be completely online but offer the same key elements – with live seminars, Q&As, exhibitors on their virtual stands, as well as the addition of an online cellar door for vineyards. You can read all the details we have so far later in this magazine.

It might not be the bustling summer the industry was hoping for, but at least this signals that there is potential to do things in a slightly different way and means we won’t miss out on the vitally important opportunity to share ideas and innovations as a collective.

The success of the Big English Wine Good Friday is yet another example, and has sent ripples of positivity through vineyards. The decision by WineGB to continue to push these online events must be applauded. This month I got to speak to Welsh grower Montgomery Vineyard who were enjoying the benefits of Welsh Wine night, and you can read all about it in this month’s Editor’s Visit.

Like the teams at Montgomery Vineyard or Defined Wines, who also feature in this month’s issue, I doubt many of you are getting a moment to stand still. I hope you are getting an opportunity to think about how you move your business forward in life after lockdown though, and that this issue gives some food for thought. I’ve been fortunate enough to get some time with commercial director of Hattingley Valley, Gareth Maxwell, to find out more about exporting wine, and some young businesses have offered their advice on getting your postage and packaging right.

With so much change, I’d love to hear what you want to read in Vineyard Magazine, too. If you’d like us to investigate or publish advice on a particular subject, or if you’d simply like to share your experiences in the pages of this magazine, please do get in touch using the contact below.

H L Hutchinson Ltd • Weasenham Lane Wisbech • Cambridgeshire PE13 2RN

Tel: 01945 461177

f: 01945 474837 • e: information@hlhltd.co.uk

www.hlhltd.co.uk

info@producepackaging.co.uk www.producepackaging.co.uk

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Send your thoughts and comments by email to vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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From the editor

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NEWS

WSTA calls for more support and guidance from government The chancellor has now announced that the government will back 100% of loans to small businesses in the first year, for 25% of their turnover up to £50,000. However, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has said this is welcome but not enough for those who cannot trade at all under lockdown rules.

WSTA chief executive Miles Beale commented: “This new support announced today by the government, whereby small businesses can apply for 100% government-backed loans amounting to 25% of turnover up to £50,000 is welcome, and may support the continued survival of businesses across the wine and spirit industry.

“However, as we have said before, much of the announced support amounts to loans which will need to be paid back. In this instance, a ceiling of £50,000 is low and the government could have gone further.

“The burden of additional debt is particularly unattractive to businesses in the supply chain who are yet to enjoy the government support afforded to other hospitality businesses in the form of grants, but for whom, just

like pubs, bars and restaurants, sales have been reduced to zero practically overnight.

“We have been clear that what these businesses need is for the government to recognise their value in the same way they have other parts of the hospitality sector. It may well be the case that these businesses will be the last to be permitted to re-open, and even when they are allowed to begin trading again it is likely they will still be forced to operate at reduced capacity or be tightly restricted. This impact will be felt just as much by businesses in the supply chain.

“The government must extend business rates exemption and availability of government grants to businesses in the on-trade supply chain, by broadening its definition of hospitality to include them. This would represent a more supportive measure.

“The government must recognise that persisting with such a narrow definition of hospitality is harmful - there will be no hospitality sector without the businesses that keep pubs, bars and restaurants stocked.”

Sussex vineyard releases limited-edition cuvée

Boutique Sussex grower-producer, Fox & Fox, has launched a new limited-edition cuvée, C.V. Chairman’s Vat Brut 2014.

Since the vineyard was planted in Mayfield, East Sussex in 2004, Fox & Fox co-founder Jonica Fox has adopted a careful and imaginative attitude to viticulture and winemaking, ensuring that each vintage sparkling wine is respectful and reflective of both the season and place.

While Jonica (who studied BSc viticulture and oenology at Plumpton College) has traditionally overseen the creation of each Fox & Fox wine, the limited-edition cuvée, Chairman’s Vat Brut 2014, has been personally blended by her husband Gerard.

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M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

“I wanted to craft a special sparkling wine which would reflect the exceptional quality of the grapes harvested from our vines,” said Gerard Fox. “Following an incredibly wet winter, our 2014 vintage will always be remembered for its perfect flowering and fruit set conditions that paved the way for the formation of the most perfect bunches of grapes.

“A long, dry summer unfolded throughout August and our vines produced one of their best crops. Fruit was carefully hand-harvested in early October with grapes showing simply luscious fruit flavours.”

Only 1,018 bottles of the 60% Pinot noir, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot gris blend, which was disgorged in December 2019, have been produced.

“When we tasted our 2014 vintages in January 2019, we knew this one was going to be special and so we decided to leave it for another year,” said Jonica, who manages the estate’s vines and takes a hands-on approach to winemaking in partnership with a contract winery.

“Benefitting from five years’ lees aging, Chairman’s Vat offers an unmatched purity and subtle minerality, which is seductively easy to enjoy. This traditional method English sparkling white wine, is complex and well-rounded with a captivating fragrance and freshness that delivers pristine orchard fruit flavours, complemented by citrus zest and notes of toasty brioche. It fills the mouth with creamy small bubbles and entrancing flavours.”

Retailing at £39.99, Chairman’s Vat Brut 2014 is available to buy online for nationwide delivery exclusively from The British Wine Cellar.

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9

NEWS

Big changes at Lyme Bay Winery with more to come

As LBW Drinks goes through a series of big changes Vineyard Magazine caught up with managing director James Lambert to find out the secret to its success.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Lyme Bay Winery, who have unveiled a new name, two new wines appearing in supermarkets and its latest food standards A* award.

Parent company to its English wine brand – and West Country cider Jack Ratt – has now rebranded as LBW Drinks.

The company isn’t one to stand still. It was established in 1993 as the Lyme Bay Cider Co and the business continued to grow and change with the first English wines being made in 2013.

LBW Drinks also revealed in April that it has been awarded an A* rating in its unannounced

2020 audit from the British Retail Consortium Global Standard (BRCGS) – a leading global brand and consumer protection scheme. It is used by 25,000 suppliers to the food industry, in more than 130 countries to demonstrate exceptional standards in areas such as food, packaging, storage and distribution, retail and consumer products.

Not only does it create its own fine wines, but Lyme Bay Winery also works with leading supermarkets such as Aldi and Morrisons to produce exclusive label offerings. It has recently increased its portfolio of wines that it makes for Aldi, called Lyme Block Dry White and Lyme Block Rosé. These are part of the ‘Specially Selected’ range and are available in stores and online now for £9.99.

They follow on from the success of the Lyme Block English Wine, Lyme Block Bacchus and the Lyme Block Sparkling Brut Reserve which all launched last year. The sparkling was the first own label English Sparkling Wine to be recognised as part of Aldi’s premium offer.

Why did you need to rebrand?

Lyme Bay was founded on cider and we’ve introduced a lot of interesting products over the years, really while waiting to get into a position to tackle English wine – which was our owner’s passion. We’ve had an awful lot of products over the years with slightly different branding and designs. The whole thing had become a little bit messy and unclear, so long story short, with the backing of the new owners, it was felt a bit more clarity over our brands and what they stand for are required.

With such a range of brands and designs, how do you choose a new direction?

10

To work out how we were going to frame the business we undertook a lot of brand architecture work with McCann. When undertaking that work it helps bring clarity to what the different brands your working with really stand for. The design work comes easier if you have a strong framework of what the brands stand for.

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

What goes into getting A* standard from the BRC? An awful lot of hard work and a lot of cash, frankly! It required investment in people, processes and infrastructure. All of that takes two to three years we found, to make the necessary changes to pass BRC. We moved onto SALSA first (Safe and Local Supplier Approval), which is seen as a stepping-stone to BRC, and we undertook a mock audit. We ended up with 143 points non-conformances which would have been minors with the BRC! That was a real shock to the system because we thought we were nearly there – that set us back a year. This year we received nine non-conformances in our unannounced audit, which awarded us to A*.

What’s your team like?

We have to work differently to other wineries, we’ve got an awful lot of other products that we make. In the winery we have just under 500,000 litres worth of tank capacity, we run all of this on a fairly lean team, and there’s only about four of us that run the harvest. Last year we did 350 tonnes. We do that on a rolling shift basis, but in terms of the manual tasks we have an employment base to call upon thanks to the other aspects of the business.

We’ve got a production team who work in a different part of the building that we can call upon during harvest to facilitate the winemaking team.

Has getting into supermarkets been a focus for LBW Drinks?

The business has grown servicing multiple outlets, such as delis, farm shops and garden centres, but not the major retailers. That worked because our range was very gift orientated and from 2015 onwards we’d seen a boom in farm shops since so many farms had diversified. This is still an important part of our business, but it had left us potentially exposed in the event that high street sales and retail as a whole experienced decline.

We knew that we had fantastic products and we also knew that BRC was enabling much better product control and process efficiency.

Therefore since 2015 we have indeed been changing our product focus, investing in key brands and improving processes throughout

NEWS the site to provide us with the tools required to transition to larger retailers.

Did you choose Aldi or did they come to you?

I’ve got to be honest, I took a bit of persuasion when our commercial team approached me to say we’ve got an opportunity with Aldi. When your cheapest wine is £13 or £14 and we’re talking about £9 or £10, you have to consider your brand perception.

However, once I met the buyer Mike James, he persuaded me with his enthusiasm and passion for the whole project. He got involved with the blending, it was very much a collaborative approach. Everything about Aldi I’ve been hugely impressed with. Above everything, they’re focused on offering the best value possible to their customers, but they also ensure that their suppliers are treated fairly.

What’s often misunderstood is their pricing structure; people often don’t realise that prices are kept low because Aldi’s margin expectations are lower than their competitors. This allows them to offer great wines at low prices. We now produce, give or take, 350,000 bottles in total and about 100,000 of those from 2019 have gone to Aldi.

perhaps even more importantly, ensuring the right clones are being planted to produce outstanding still wines. We’re expecting to see the first wave of these this year.

The UK wine industry is clearly facing numerous challenges, ranging from a global

pandemic through to re-balancing supply versus demand in sparkling wines. With the investments into brands, quality, people and processes, we believe LBW Drinks is well placed to meet those challenges, and continue to help lead the way in still wine quality in the UK.

> James Lambert

What are you planning next?

We’ve been working for the last couple of years on a long-term project of English still wines. The biggest difference between us and other English wine producers, is that right from the off we wanted to focus on still rather than sparkling. That was born out of two things, firstly the founder of the business Nigel Howard was a massive fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - his cellar is ridiculous. Secondly, during my career in wine, it always struck me that the still wines of this country were almost treated as a bit of a byproduct of sparkling wine. We knew there wasmore potential in still wines, and if you can justity the price point with its quality on an international standing, not just national, then you’ll be creating an industry that is sustainable for the future.

In short, we believe in order to make the best wines, you need to work with the best grapes from the best growers. We source grapes from several parts of the UK, and in recent years we found that there were specific regions, for varieties such as Pinot noir and Chardonnay, that were giving very commercial levels of ripeness for still wines. We’ve subsequently been working very closely with a viticulturalist in that area and specific growers, not just focusing on the vines going in at the places where they’re most likely to ripen fully, but

Photo © Matt Austin

How do you achieve that?

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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NEWS

WSET improves online offering The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the world’s largest global provider of wine, spirits and sake qualifications, has announced that it is fast-tracking its investment plans for online delivery of all its qualifications.

WSET currently offers its Levels 1-4 Award in Wines and Levels 1-2 in Spirits as online courses. However, the current coronavirus crisis has forced the vast majority of its course providers to suspend delivery of classroom courses.

In response to this, the organisation has offered all course providers enhanced digital delivery options. This will enable as many students as possible to continue their WSET learning journey. Although WSET’s Online Classroom currently only supports course delivery in English, WSET is also enabling course providers to deliver courses in local languages through online conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

As a result, around 200 of WSET course providers are now able to offer online courses

As a result of the current crisis, Viti-Culture has become an online virtual show for 2020.

Grape Vine Events Ltd (GVE-Ltd), organisers of the event have invested heavily in building their bespoke platform over recent weeks which means that the successful annual event can be held this year rather than succumbing in the same way as so many other events and shows have done. Hosted completely on the www.Viti-Culture.com website, visitors will be able to “visit” exhibitors on their individual stands. Each stand will be clearly branded and pre-populated with plenty of relevant and interesting material such as video etc and will have the facility to host live chat.

There will still be the full itinerary of high quality seminars throughout the day that visitors expect.

Full joining instructions and timings will be publicised in advance so you won’t have to worry about missing a thing! The live webinars will also give an opportunity for live Q&A’s on “Show Day”.

We are thrilled to announce that our headline seminar will be led by Richard Bampfield MW who will be joined by Stephen Skelton MW and Matt Strugnell, Vineyard Manager at Ridgeview to discuss the current and sometimes contentious issues facing the UK Wine Industry.

In addition, we will be offering free space to vineyards to create their own virtual cellar door, especially useful for those who don’t have an

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M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

to their students.

WSET’s own WSET School London, which was forced to close in mid-March, is now offering a ‘blended learning’ programme for its students.

This will give them the option to continue their studies online through digital classes, webinars and live Q&A sessions.

WSET is also exploring options to fast-track the use of computer-based testing for all its online courses. Trials are currently being run for its Level 1 Award in Sake.

WSET chief executive Ian Harris said: “Our

Digital Education team has been working around the clock over the past few weeks to progress our digital learning offering at an unprecedented pace. We are determined to give our course providers the best online tools available and to minimise the impact of the current crisis on our students’ educational journey with WSET. “We already had a strong ‘digital first’ strategy and investment plan in place, so I am incredibly proud that our dedicated team has been able to roll this out in such a short space of time.”

Viti-Culture LIVE! online presence already and as a supporting outlet for those already established. As a visitor, what could be better than viewing the vast array of supplies and services available to viticulturists, attend high-level seminars and be able to view and shop at an array of UK vineyards virtual cellar doors all in one place?

Everything will remain in place until 31 December 2020, so visitors will still be able to pop in right up to the end of the year! No other virtual show is offering such an extended platform - and we are proud to be able to support our industry to this extent through these uncharted times.

GVE Ltd will also make the virtual event platform available to any other event organisers who are looking to take their show online in a meaningful and professional way at a fraction of the cost of existing off-the-shelf products.

“In these tricky times, it is as important as ever to maintain the communication throughout the industry. These are unprecedented times, of that there is no doubt. The wine industry is one that looks at probability and severity when writing business plans and risk assessments and is pre-programmed to mitigate that risk.

Resilience is our middle name! We do it all of the time, so we should be using that knowledge, shared experiences, opinions and advice to help everyone in our industry wherever and whenever we can. Viti-Culture LIVE 2020 is ideally placed to deliver that to every sector of the UK Wine Industry” said Karen Wheeler, Director, GVE Ltd. Viti-Culture provides a showcase for interested and prospective growers to come and speak to experts and find out more about any aspect of wine production. Whether you have an already established vineyard and winery, are looking to plant, or want to invest in your own production facilities, 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, attend Viti-Culture to advise on every aspect of establishing and managing a vineyard, to producing, packaging and marketing the wines.

To our knowledge, there is no other event in the UK that provides a show-case b2b event where growers can access advice, supplies and services and have the opportunity to network together – all in one place.

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13

NEWS

First of Simpsons’ 2019 vintage goes on sale Simpsons Wine Estate’s 2019 still wines are approaching their release dates. The first of this vintage raring to go is the hotly-anticipated Gravel Castle Chardonnay 2019, which is now available to buy on its website.

When Ruth and Charles Simpson established Simpsons’ Wine Estate in 2012, their focus was firmly on creating quality English Sparkling Wines. Yet, when presented with the heady harvest of 2018 with bountiful flavour-rich fruit, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to venture into a range of English still wines. The portfolio received much acclaim and the Gravel Castle Chardonnay was held in high regard for its fresh fruit, appealing texture and refreshing crispness, and that premier vintage swiftly sold out.

The 2019 Gravel Castle Chardonnay is very similar in style to the 2018, albeit slightly lighter, fresher and more aromatic, which reflects both the vintage as well as the terroir of the Simpsons’ vineyards in the idyllic Elham Valley. Here the iconic chalk soil and nuanced microclimate create the perfect growing conditions for producing wines with pure varietal flavours, elegant acidity and subtly sophisticated aromas.

New podcast Lockdown has sparked some creativity from Kenton Park Estate. Brothers Ben and Josh Oliphant-Thomson, part of what they call the ‘Motley Cru’ have released their own podcast called Motley Matters about life working on the vineyard.

In the first episode, called A Motley Cru, they introduce themselves and the team at Kenton Park Estate. “We talk about lessons learned, mishaps, disasters, chasing dreams and our adventures with sheep,” they say.

Other topics include Instagram challenges, the dangers of a Zoom Pub Quiz, their passion for Rugby and getting back into shape for the season - as well as their general opinions and highlights of the week.

“We don’t take ourselves seriously and we have a laugh," said the pair. “In our first week we've been blown away by the fact we've had over 200 downloads and some fantastic reviews!.”

You can listen to it yourself by searching for Motley Matters on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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NEWS

Around the world 100 million litres of European wine to be distilled This year 100 million litres wine from Europe could end up as industrial alcohol to be sold to pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies.

However, so far, no other solution has been presented for a sector facing a crisis of historic proportions.

It hadn’t been an easy ride for these winemakers before the global crisis.

President Trump’s tariffs, Brexit, a trade deal between China and Australia, had left vineyards in France, Spain and Italy with cellars full of unsold wine.

Many smaller producers say that their only option is to distil the wine into

alcohol, and for that they need approval from Brussels.

These countries’ governments have asked the EU to approve a “crisis distillation” programme, allowing them to make hand sanitiser, solvents or cosmetics but will regardless be heartbreak for producers.

Winemakers want to be paid 80 cents in public money for every litre they turn into alcohol, with 45 cents coming from national governments and the rest from the EU. They also want subsidies to help them to stock some of their unsold bottles until the market recovers.

New Zealand wine industry commits to cu‫﬙‬ing carbon New Zealand Winegrowers has committed to making the wine industry net carbon-zero before 2050.

The pledge was made at the end of 2019 and is a representation of the evolving sustainability initiatives that are already taking place within the New Zealand wine industry.

These initiatives include a Climate Change Mitigation Programme to support members through the transition to a zero-carbon economy, improvements to the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) scorecard that better enables measurement of industry progress against greenhouse gas emissions, and a Bragato Research Institute Climate Change Research Programme providing guidance on adjusting vineyard practices in

response to our changing climate.

“New Zealand wines are known around the world for their unique quality and that distinctiveness reflects the places where the grapes are grown and how the wine is made,” said Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand

Winegrowers.

“New Zealand wineries and growers have a vital interest in protecting and sustaining our vineyards for future generations. The commitment to carbon neutrality prior to the New Zealand 2050 regulatory deadline, reflects this.”

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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Lay & Wheeler bolsters team with two senior hires

Former NFU president takes on chairmanship

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The Organic Research Centre (ORC) is delighted to announce the appointment of former NFU president, Tim Bennett as the new chair of its Council of Management.

Bennett’s appointment follows the planned retirement of longstanding chair, Mike Turnbull, who has spent the past eight years both as a trustee and chair of ORC, the UK’s leading independent research centre for organic food production and land management solutions.

He brings more than 40 years’ experience in the food and farming supply chain. As well as running an organic farm in south Wales, he has served as NFU President, as chairman of DEFRA’s dairy Environmental Task Force and as chair of the Food Standards Agency.

Currently, Tim is the chair of the Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Livestock; working with twelve University partners and Innovate UK to invest in new applied livestock research capabilities around the UK. This investment of over £70m is the largest in new livestock applied research capacity for a generation and the successful partnership has resulted in the largest alliance of livestock researchers in Europe.

Bennett said: “It was a great honour to be asked to take over the chair of the ORC. I want to thank Mike Turnbull for his incredible efforts over the last few years on behalf of ORC and particularly over the last year in delivering the farm sale that has created the opportunity to invest funds to create a more sustainable organisation.

“The ORC is implementing a robust strategy that will make our organisation even more relevant as the UK moves to a more sustainable farming future. Our business plan recognises the value of building solid partnerships that are focussed on carrying out the right research and sharing it with the relevant audiences.

“Although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruption throughout the whole food supply chain, one positive outcome is that this will hopefully lead to a more evidence-based debate about the future of food production in the UK. I think that the ORC will continue to be a key contributor to this debate, as part of helping to create industry solutions that are based on sound science.”

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

One of England’s oldest fine wine merchants Lay & Wheeler has appointed two high profile recruits with Simon Staples taking up the role of director of private clients and Catherine Petrie MW to the buying team.

Staples, who joins following 23 years with Berry Bros. & Rudd where he held the position of sales director, will lead efforts to increase Lay & Wheeler’s work with private clients. The merchant believes Staples’ wealth of experience in fine wine sales will be a boon for clients, both in the UK and coming from abroad, who have significant cellars. Commenting on his new role, Staples said: “I simply love my job.”

Petrie will look after buying for all of France, with the exception of Bordeaux, which will continue to be led by buyer Robbie Toothill. Petrie, who qualified as a Master of Wine in 2017, has extensive experience working in vineyards and wineries across Europe, and was previously working as a buyer for Goedhuis & Co. She has a key specialism in the Loire and Burgundy, where she worked for Domaine Comte Armand in Pommard.

Working alongside Toothill (a new MW candidate) and John Phillips, buying coordinator, Petrie will further enhance the capabilities of the current buying team. Lay & Wheeler also shared that Phillips will take up responsibility for increasing the American and Australian ranges, in addition to his existing duties.

The recruitment shows that Lay & Wheeler is investing in the business, scaling resources with a focus on both growing supply and demand, as their FY21 financial year begins. The strategy, however, remains the same: to be an essential source for its customers for the purchase, sale, storage and enjoyment of fine wine.

The wine merchant, which was founded in 1854, returned to private ownership in late 2019. Katy Keating, managing director at Lay & Wheeler, indicated these two hires demonstrate strong commitment, from new ownership, in the business’ strategic plans.

“People are our most important resource, and we remain focused on building a best-in-class team. Simon and Catherine bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion. I’m thrilled they’re joining our Lay & Wheeler family,” said Keating.

“It is vital that the love and deep interest our customers have for fine wine are reflected across the business. Bringing professionals like Simon and Catherine, onboard is a thrilling step forward for us - and for our clients and our producers. I am confident that we have all of the essential ingredients to take this hugely respected and historic business forward.”

Covid-19 testing opened up The government has announced that employees in the food and drink, waste, water and veterinary medicines industries showing symptoms of coronavirus are now able to be tested to help more employees return to work if the results are negative.

Thanks to substantially increased testing capacity, the government has extended testing to anyone in England with symptoms of coronavirus who has to leave home to go to work, and all symptomatic members of the public aged 65 and over.

Those eligible include key workers in food and drink production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery.

Secretary of state for the Environment George Eustice said: “We recognise the vital role our key workers play in supporting our nation at this challenging time, and have already

introduced a series of measures to support those working in the food and drink, waste, water and veterinary medicines sectors.

“Testing is now open to all employees in these critical industries and to members of their households who are showing symptoms. This means those who do not test positive are able to return to work as quickly as possible.”

Booking the test has been made easier through a new online system. Essential workers can book a test if they are experiencing symptoms – a high temperature or new continuous cough – at one of the more than 42 drive-through testing centres across the country, or receive a home testing kit.

Test results from the drive-through sites will be sent out by text within 48 hours and within 72 hours of collection of the home delivery tests.

PROPERTY

Rare opportunity to buy established vineyard A very rare opportunity to buy a profitable vineyard with nearly 50 years of grape growing in East Sussex has arrived on the market.

Well-known wine brand Carr Taylor is on offer with all the tangible and intangible assets that are associated with its production and sales, including the vineyard and winemaking facility. Owner David Carr Taylor first purchased 21 acres in 1970, which he decided to turn into vineyards when everyone told him not to do it. He said: “I spent the next 49 years proving I’m right rather than wrong.”

He has now decided to place the property on the market at the age of 81, as he turns his attention to other projects. The sale consists of 35 acres of prime proven vineyard land, planted with modern and mature vines, as well as a seven-bed farmhouse, wine shop, five bonded warehouses and parking for 45 vehicles.

The vineyard is planted with 12 grape varieties which yielded 2,000 bottles per acre for the last two years.

The sale also includes all machinery; including two grape presses and 200,000 litres of Vat storage, and all wine stocks.

Carr Taylor sees this as a great investment for anyone wanting to get into the industry and see results fast. He commented: “It's already got a very strong brand name. Most vineyards setting up need to plant vines and wait five to seven years before they get a return on their investment and then it will take another three or four years to make a profit.

“What we’ve done is run a very lean and slim production and Tourist Industry. We’re not what I’d call a pretty vineyard, boutique style with stainless steel and glass; we’re rustic and very functional in producing a range of wines. Because of our soil and our local position we make very good quality wine.”

The vineyard has been awarded over 200 international and national accolades over the years. The business has other revenue channels with contract bottling done on site for other

vineyards, and the potential to grow further. Carr Taylor explained how the business is continuing to adapt, and that in recent months its database of 11,000 plus private e-mail addresses have seen orders sent out across England.

The land has previously had planning permission for expansion with a new winery to produce 500,000 bottles a year with a new visitors centre, and it is predicted this will increase wine tourism on site to more than 100,000 visitors a year. The 1066 region is a golden triangle for tourism.

He added: “This would be ideal for somebody who is already involved in the industry, whether on the retail side or production, and wants to have an entry into the English wine industry with our years of intellectual property, tangible and intangible assets.

“The company has been profitable for quite a while and the owner offers his consultancy to fulfill its ambitions of expanding considerably, to produce half a million bottles of wine, for which we have planning consent about four or five years ago.”

 01424 752501  07375 079924 Subject to Contract

VINEYARD RETIREMENT SALE Hastings, East Sussex 37 Acres – POA

After 49 years the founder owner wishes to retire.

The Vineyard is offered for sale as a going concern: • 37 acres of mature yielding vines, 12 popular grape varieties yielding approx 80 tons for the last two years • 7 bedroom farm house.

• Wine shop with seating for 35 visitors • First floor tasting room • 5 bonded warehouses including grape presses and 200,000 litres storage.

• Bottling room and two finished product storage.

• Car parking for 40 plus cars • Walled garden • Deep well water supply for pure water • Over 200 (International and National awards.

First Gold medal in France in 1989 and again in 1999 for Sparkling Wine.

• Approx 150,000 bottles produced and bottled of a pro-biotic health drink called Kombucha.

• Contract bottling for other vineyards.

• Lapsed planning consent for a new winery for 500,000 bottles of sparkling wine with a visitor’s centre

All stock and tangible assets with the brand “Carr Taylor” is included.

Only serious buyers/investors with Proof of Funds are considered by appointment.

Please contact Mr D Carr Taylor: Carr Taylor Wines Ltd, Westfield, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 4SG

 01424 752501  07375 079924  www.carr-taylor.co.uk  david@carr-taylor.co.uk M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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SALES AND MARKETING

In conversation...

Beth

Kel ly

English wine buyer Elizabeth Kelly has worked with Oddbins and M&S since 2013.

Newly accredited as a Master of Wine, we get her thoughts on the industry.

How did you get into the English wine industry?

I have been in the wine industry for 16 years, but it was about a year after I started at M&S that I really got involved with the English wine industry. It was then that I became the buyer of English wines at M&S.

What would you be doing if you weren't working in wine?

If it wasn’t wine then I think it would definitely be food related, when I started the MW I decided that if I didn’t get through the first year then I would look at a food role within M&S as a new challenge. Luckily, I never had to make a final decision about that!

What was the first English or Welsh wine you tried?

I believe it was Chapel Down sparkling wines.

When I started in the wine industry back in 2003 it was one of the first vineyards I visited.

Is there a wine from England or Wales that has really blown you away?

I have so many wines that I love that I couldn’t choose between them. So here are a few wineries doing something slightly different that I have enjoyed; there are some great ‘Pet Nats’ or sparkling wine’s in that vein including Davenport Vineyards’ Pet Nat, Blackbook’s GMF and Vagabond’s Pet Not. Last year I also tried Charlie Herring’s sparkling Riesling, which is from a tiny vineyard in Hampshire. It was delicious.

Are there any untapped opportunities for vineyards in the United Kingdom?

The next thing producers need to start thinking about is the environment and how they communicate their approach to viticulture and winemaking to their customers – what is their story for how they are working the land?

WineGB has recently launched Sustainable Wines of Great Britain, a project very close to my heart, as I am on the committee and wrote my research paper on establishing a sustainability programme for the UK wine production industry. There is a lot more customer demand for green credentials and with lots of small regional production this is something the industry could really get behind.

What catches your attention from a wine?

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The label and packaging. I know I know, I’m a Master of Wine and I should know better than ‘judging a book by its cover’ but if a producer hasn’t made an effort with the label, how do you know they will make one with the wine?

One pet hate though, and I know I’m not a typical customer here, is heavy bottles, so unnecessary – a waste of glass and massively increases the carbon footprint of the wine.

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

SALES AND MARKETING What would be your advice for winemakers hoping to get their wine in well-known shops?

Make sure that you know the range currently available (go to a store, don’t just look online) wherever you are targeting and think about where your product would fit in, be realistic about price, there is only so much space for £30+ sparkling wines for instance when they have to sit alongside Champagne that is still better known.

What do you think the British public are most concerned about when it comes to choosing a great wine?

I think most customers are still very price sensitive.

If you had to choose your ultimate dish and wine pairing, what would it be?

Oh, it has to be something posh with a takeaway, so a really great sparkling wine with fish and chips, somehow that feels like a massive treat on a Friday night in.

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

19

Mat h e

WINE REVIEWS

w

Looking North

es Juk

Wines from north of London offer a welcome escape this month during lockdown.  www.matthewjukes.com paper-plane, vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk I have never visited a vineyard north of London. Having said this, I have never visited Argentina or Chile which people think very odd because I am a wine writer and I ought to have been everywhere. Not so – I taste wine and write about taste. I don’t write about travel. In coronatimes I am not tasting anywhere other than at home, which is something I am very used to indeed. It is not uncommon for me to taste two or three hundred bottles at home in any one week as parcels and packages come in from all corners of the planet. So as a wine writer, while it is a proper pain to unpack and recycle hundreds and hundreds of bottles and boxes it does mean I can still keep my finger on the world’s wine pulse without leaving my home.

This is good news because I am looking North this month and, as I have no prior experience, I have turned to maps and the internet to call in samples.

My long list, gleaned from a quick scan of the most northerly vineyards I could find, included names such as Adderstone, High Cup, Bolton Castle, Mount Pleasant (not the one in the Hunter Valley, Australia), Sutton Grange, Helmsley Walled Garden, Yorkshire Heart, Ryedale, 54 North, Leventhrope, Summerhouse, Holmfirth, Somerby, Plot 19, Three Sisters, Lincoln, Ovens Farm, Renishaw Hall, Mill Lane, South Beck, Windy Ridge, River Walk, Eglantine and Hinstock. I tapped these names into Google, hoping to find contact details

with varying degrees of success. Some of these ‘vineyards’ have no website at all.

Others are clearly not commercial vineyards making wine, while seven from this list looked serious enough and these were Yorkshire Heart, Ryedale, Leventhorpe, Holmfirth, Somerby, Ovens Farm and Eglantine. Sadly, only three replied to my email, but three is all I need overleaf and, as luck would have it, they sent some rather tasty wines, too.

So what does this say about the North apart from the fact that there are a surprising number of places with the word vineyard in their names and that they are a little reluctant to engage with a keen (Southern) wine writer who would like to taste their creations and spread the word in good faith? Perhaps my email is languishing in spam or maybe they can’t think of anything worse than sending a wine writer their wares or, most likely, these wineries are, like many businesses, in lockdown during this awful Covid-19 pandemic. Either way, my wine writing must go on and so I am very grateful to those vineyards who responded and I hope that my notes help them to sell more of their lovely wines.

While I only got about as far as South of Stoke-on-Trent / Nottingham, I am holding out hope that the Midlands, East Anglia, the Cotswolds and the Heart of England will engage more positively with me when it is their turn to respond because, as we all know, communication is everything in our business and there is clearly a lot more to the UK wine scene than just the South of England.

> Somerby Vineyards, Lincolnshire

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MATTHEW JUKES Simon and Bridget White planted their vineyard at Ovens Farm in 2015.

It is rather appropriate that the name for this farm points to the reason why they considered this property suitable for growing grapes. In spite of its northerly postcode this estate has always been recognised as having a warmer feel than the surrounding area. With a south-facing slope and a ridge of woodland protecting the vineyard from cold northerly winds, I can assure you that the Whites made the right decision! This is the second vintage release and I am already massively impressed because no less than three wines stood out in this portfolio. A cheeky 2018 Bacchus (£14) set the scene with herb-spiked-citrus notes leading the way while a NV Rosé Sparkling Brut Pinot Noir (£25) was piercingly fresh with gentle cherry red fruit throughout.

But the star was the 2018 Solaris which is superbly well balanced, pure and smooth with hints of green melon and lemongrass in the sleek palate.

2018 Ovens Farm Vineyard Solaris

Harrington, Lincolnshire

£78 for 6 bottles - £13.00 each www.ovensfarmvineyard.com

2015 Somerby Vineyards Magna Carta 1215 Reserve Rondo Barnetby, Lincolnshire

£12.95

www.somerbyvineyards.com

£12.99

www.waitrosecellar.com Somerby sent me two wines and both were fascinating. There is not a lot of information on these wines on their website, but the back label copy was useful and what intrigued me was their use of oak.

2015 Magna Carta white (£9.99, www. waitrosecellar) was partially fermented in French oak and while the latent flavour of the barrels was faintly evident it was the textural amplitude which impressed me.

There is some exoticism here and the acidity is still holding firm and this suggests that, as a young wine, it might have needed some time to settle and now, at five years old, it is finally ready to go. That’s a long run up for a light white, but it has worked. My featured red is easily the most northerly red wine I have ever tasted and it is silky, harmonious and balanced. The back label notes both French and American barrels used here and with a feather-light 11% alcohol on board, this blackberry and apple crumble themed wine is rather enchanting. I assume that the oak adds the ‘crumble’!

With 35 years of grape growing experience under their belts, Leventhorpe Vineyard is not only a pioneering estate but it is also one of the very few whose wines I have tasted before.

In fact, I wrote them up back in 2007 in my Daily Mail Weekend Magazine column as one of the most important vineyards to visit in the country. Back then this was the most northerly commercial vineyard in England. I have a soft spot for well-made Madeleine Angevine and this is a beauty. Another wine which has clearly benefited from five year’s maturation, the violet notes on the nose, coupled with the hints of peach and mango make this a mildly exotic treat. But there is a welcome sour edge to this billowing fruit which tethers it to your palate and I love the haunting feel throughout the whole experience.

Hat’s off to you George and Janet Bowden, you have genuinely blazed a trail which is increasingly interesting to follow!

2015 Leventhorpe Vineyard Madeleine Angevine Woodlesford, Yorkshire

£19.50

www.leventhorpevineyard.co.uk

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EDITOR'S VISIT ecca Ch ap Reb lin

As above, so below

or Ed it

Montgomery Vineyard chose to plant its vines on previously unworked land high up at 900 feet. Rebecca Chaplin finds out what this means for Welsh wine.

With Welsh Wine Night about to take place, it had seemed like the ideal time to find out exactly what it’s like to grow grapes in a country better known for wet weather and sheep farming. At Montgomery the team are focused purely on the growing of grapes and then delivering the final product to distributors, but while I tried to catch a moment with them they were run ragged with orders ahead of the online wine tasting event.

“It’s just non-stop at the moment. We’re trying to maximise the impact of Welsh Wine Night.

Pubs are closed so people are ordering our wine from all over the place - it’s great!” owner Woody told me.

“From that side of things, we’re delivering all

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M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

over the place and I’m over the moon but how long it will last I’m not sure.”

Woody Lennard is a director of the family business, Montgomery Vineyard, and the one to tell me about how they work – or tries to between high demand for his wine going out to distributors in time for the event on April 24.

He told me: “We’ve whole heartedly got on board to support our industry with the Welsh Wine Night and English Wine Night. We have an Instagram TV ‘live social’ with Blackbook Winery and Wine Time London so I am really looking forward to interacting with our fantastic followers and spreading the love of Welsh wine across the UK and beyond.”

Although Woody’s role has become about developing the business as others continue to

tend to the vineyard, he was the person to first spot the potential in the land.

“As a director, over the years my role has developed as the business has grown,” he explained. “Now we’re established, my focus is working with our suppliers to maintain the quality of the wine, coordinate distribution, while establishing new and maintaining client relationships.

“We’re a tight knit family business that works together all day, every day. Everyone has a role, my dad and uncle are in the vineyard taking care of the viticulture, mum is the office manager taking care of the day to day business. My brother looks after the accounts and my sister supports the IT and social media for the business.”

The vineyard itself sounds a bit like a fairytale or

> Woody Lennard, director at Montgomary vineyard mythical place, something you might find in the back of C.S. Lewis’ wardrobe, as Woody describes how it has its own unique natural design. The vines themselves are planted 900 feet above sea level in a natural amphitheater that creates a mesoclimate in this pocket of Mid-Wales. Okay – we're not talking about Welsh mountains but in equivalent length it’s only just bested by the Eiffel Tower.

Woody explained how this helps them, saying: “The vineyard occupies a five-acre site, with over three acres under vine. The vineyard is on the side of a hill, south facing with the vines planted directly north/south and free draining.

The terroir is made up of flinty, glacial deposits and that has been the key to our success, as well as being naturally sheltered in an amphitheater created by the contours of the hill side.

“We’re on a hill so, for example the frost rolls in rather than flatlining because we’re just below the weather line. Being high up we catch the wind but some of the hedges are about 150 years old all the way around the vineyard and we’ve planted about 2,000 trees to bounce those different levels of protection to the vineyard,” he told me.

The story of Montgomery Vineyard begins when his family bought the property 50 years ago, but it was Woody’s

"We’re a tight knit family business that works together all day, every day."

experience in the wine industry and studies in geology that led to the vines being planted 44 years later. Before 2011, when the family first began cultivating the land, what is now the vineyards were simply meadows that had never been worked before.

“Our family bought the property in 1970 as a country retreat. It came with nine acres of land that had never had any agricultural use and the land was left to become a natural meadow with occassional topping,” he said.

“From travelling around the world, I’d visited many vineyards and you get an understanding of what are the main factors that make a good vineyard. That’s things like the terroir, south facing, the climate, free draining, the soils.

“Those are big environmental and >>

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> Woody loads deliveries in the van

<<

geological factors that make for a good vineyard and we could see they were present here, plus we knew the ground was fertile because we’d had meadows there but it had never been touched from an agricultural point of view, so there were no chemicals, spraying or agricultural intervention.”

Before turning his hand to his vineyard, Woody had studied for a degree in geology and masters in project management, saying: “I have always been in the construction industry, with a passion for wine during my travels around the globe.”

“Geology was just something I was really interested in,” he said. “I’m the sort of person who likes to really get into things and understand the structure of how the world was and how it works, and it gives you a really good helicopter view of history throughout the natural environment.

"We have a clay type subsoil while the topsoil and subsoil is very stony and flinty. It was laid down in the glacial age on top of a bedrock that is quite soft, locally called Rotche, that has good water retention properties and good natural drainage at the same time, which is similar to a chalk setup.”

The groundwork was definitely there, and the future of the vineyard looked promising, but his next steps were to consult some expert suppliers and ensure his suspicions were correct.

“We consulted our agronomist John Buchan who took soil samples of the ground and he confirmed 100% the ground would be totally suitable. We also consulted Martin Vickers from Halfpenny Green Wine Estate for his expertise and then we started preparation for the vineyard,” Woody said.

“Between 2011 and 2014, we prepared and cultivated the ground and installed the primary infrastructure consisting of roads, >>

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Photos © G17 Photography

"Our agronomist took soil samples and confirmed 100% the ground would be totally suitable."

: on Vi n

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The balancing act

John Buchan AGRONOMY LTD For independent advice on:  Interpretation of soil and tissue  Formulation of nutrient programmes  Supply of tailor-made products  General agronomic advice

john.buchan@btinternet.com 01630 639875 07713 632347

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EDITOR'S VISIT <<

windbreaks, fencing and drainage.

“In 2014, with the guidance of Stephen Skelton through the viticulture world via his publications, we hand planted 3800 vines, consisting of 1000 Solaris, 1000 Rondo, 1000 Seyval Blanc along with 600 Pinot Noir Precoce and 200 Bacchus so we could develop our own style of wines.”

He added: “We work with a fantastic network of suppliers and use too many to mention but the top three would be Halfpenny Green who take care of our contract making, The Label Makers Ltd who have produced our labels and John Buchan who provides our consultant agronomy services.”

The proof, as we know, is in the finished product though, and Montgomery Vineyard now produces a variety of wines, which have all proved popular with their customers. The vineyard has since been highly decorated, too. Last year it walked away with four of five classes at the Welsh Wine Awards, although Woody admitted it was ‘quite embarrassing’ at the time.

“If I’m honest, until we made the wine for our first vintage in 2016, we didn’t know if we could grow the grapes at that level! What it does is give you a slightly smaller grape but the flavour and intensity that you get in those grapes is phenomenal. Since, then I’m proud to say our vintage has sold out each year.

“We didn’t realise how successful we could be, but it’s gone from strength to strength.”

As Woody explained: “We have the Solaris, that’s our dry white wine and we use that for a lot of blending. We also do an off-dry Bacchus Solaris, we've had some rave reviews about those and won quite a lot of awards as well.

“Then we have our Rhondo, probably one of the best-selling wines in our portfolio and also an award winner for best red wine in Wales. Then we have Pinot Noir that we mainly use for blending in our sparkling wines but we also have an individual Pinot Noir.”

The vineyard chose to partner with Halfpenny

Green Winery, in Staffordshire not too far over the Wales-England border meaning they can deliver the grapes there within an hour for immediate processing. “We chose to partner with them because of their unwavering support and superb wine making skills,” said Woody, who had Halfpenny Green consult from the very early days of planting the vineyard. “Between Martin Vickers, Clive and Ben the process of vine to wine has been seamless. The only request was that awardwinning wine is required every year while we aim to deliver top quality grapes at harvest.”

As Woody explained, in particular, the vineyard is proud of its 2018 Pinot Noir, which is now only available in very limited edition: “In 2018 we did an individual Pinot Noir, which is absolutely perfect, the brix and sugar levels were absolutely bang on so we didn’t have to add anything to it.

“What we’ve got in the bottle is exactly what came out of the vineyard. We hope we can do it again at that level or that quantity, but that is a fantastic wine. We did 1,000 bottles of that and it’s one of our limited editions. We don’t really advertise that; it just divided between our distributors.”

The family are now continuing their tasks in the vineyard and enjoying some warm spring days, while ensuring their wine reaches retailers across the UK from Scotland to Devon in time for the upcoming events.

“Bud burst is underway with this gorgeous weather and we have just finished tying down.

Over the next few weeks, if no frost occurs, we will be pruning away our spare canes,” he said.

Idyllic it might look, and as lockdown continues, I’m still jealous of those working in the vineyards, but Woody’s final words echo that something like this requires immense amounts of dedication. “If you want to grow a vineyard, first, check out your personal energy levels to cope with the demands of one,” he said. “Secondly, you need to adopt the mantra that, ‘nothing is too much trouble’.”

> Woody and his father Lenny in the vineyard

> Pete and Woody tend to the vines

> The Lennard family, (L-R) Woodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncle Pete, mother Denise, Lenny and Woody

> Woody, Pete and Lenny prepare for Welsh wine night deliveries

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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THE DRINKS INDUSTRY SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR YOUR BUSINESS Import / Export

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What your business needs to succeed in the drinks industry.

The drinks sector is a complex and competitive business at the best of times.

Under current market conditions, with changes both economic and political, alongside rising prices, UK wine producers need to have a clear understanding of business management information to survive in this environment.

Over the last 20 years TVision has been working with industry leaders to address the specific challenges drinks businesses face and has developed its Bevica finance software, powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Bevica is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that can equip ambitious wine producers with a fully integrated ERP system to manage the entire grape to glass process.

“Our expertise lies in identifying exactly what producers need from an enterprise resource planning system to get them up and running with software which fits their specific business,” said Claudio Martell, Bevica product manager. Having previously worked at Enotria & Coe Claudio Martell is acutely aware of what information those in the drinks sector need to access in order to facilitate better business.

“We are here to help producers who are looking to grow, but may be experiencing growing pains, with limited resources to manage production, cash flow, stock, clients and distribution.”

Bevica, powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, is integrated with Microsoft Office 365. It easily fits in with what many producers already use and has been specifically designed to cover everything from crushing the grapes to distributing stock.

“The very foundation of every wine business is stock,” said Claudio. “The intuitive system we have built can be used by winemakers to manage inventory and purchase order management for labels, bottles and equipment. Then there is the production side, which records what wine has been made and producers can use the system to manage bottling runs. Winemakers can keep track of each vat, so there is full traceability from the very beginning to delivery to the customer.”

In the warehouse, Bevica’s unique system is able to account for stock and can record what wine is being stored duty free and what Excise Duty needs to be paid. If a producer is exporting there is no need to reclaim from the government, and the system will also be able to manage deliveries under bond to distributors as well as those duty paid to other trade and retail customers.

An intelligent pricing features allows producers to input a range of different rates for wholesalers, trade and private retail and will adjust the price accordingly to incorporate VAT and the duty price on the day of sale.

From a CRM point of view, sales and marketing managers can use Bevica to store leads and prospects. There is a pipeline tool to track customers with the ability to report on what customers are purchasing.

“The system automatically knows who is a customer and producers can segment data for specific reports, looking for instance at sales by product, and price which will help inform on-going campaigns,” said Claudio. “From a marketing perspective, details can be stored on private retail customers, distributors and trade contacts as well as journalists. The GDPR compliant set up allows

M

el l art

Surviving or thriving?

Claudio

users to easily provide information which is being held and there is also the ability to anonymise information and prevent certain users from accessing this data.”

Alongside sales reports, Bevica can help to better manage finances. There is a cash flow module which can be set up to monitor income and outgoings and it will alert the producer if they are about to fall into the red. There is full control to introduce budgets and because Bevica is linked with Microsoft, there are a range of AI tools which can be used to produce forecasts too.

“One of the most beneficial aspects which sometimes gets overlooked is the ability to control what is going on in all the different departments of the business in one integrated package,” said Claudio. “There is no need, for example, to go to one place for the purchase ledger, another for the stock and somewhere else to see which bin in the warehouse holds the next vintage of wine. People also value the connection with Microsoft, a product which is known for being safe, reliable, relevant and not about to disappear.”

As a WineGB silver patron, Bevica is looking forward to building relationships with UK wine producers and will also be exhibiting in the innovation zone, sponsoring the industry briefing room, and be on the panel at two speaker sessions at the London Wine Fair when the rescheduled date is confirmed.

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SALES AND MARKETING

A world of opportunities The world might seem small under lockdown but now could be the perfect time to consider how exporting wine could grow your business.

Going from the cellar door to exporting your wine around the world might seem like a daunting task but with some determination and a commitment to selling in different regions, it can be profitable and help diversify your business.

Gareth Maxwell, commercial director of Hattingley Valley Wines and chairman of the WineGB Export Committee, explained to Vineyard Magazine that it’s not something UK producers should fear.

As English and Welsh wines are relatively new to market he explained you don’t need to have experience in exporting, which was his personal situation as well as the vineyard’s five years ago - but that definitely doesn’t mean it’s easy.

“I think as probably one of the leaders in exporting English wine, I’m good proof that you don’t need to have much experience in order to do it.

Do a bit of research, find people you like working with and establish your understanding of that country and try to find the right partner. Most of it is being guided by an importer who understands their own country,” Maxwell said.

The Hampshire based producer now exports to about 15, countries, including all of Scandinavia, Belgium, Japan, Australia, the US, Kazakstan, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. As part of the export committee, he also works with other vineyards to promote English wine abroad and support them in taking the leap to new global markets.

Here we’ve pulled together his top pieces of advice for anyone, whether you’ve considered exporting as an option yet or not.

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Understand what markets will work “It’s a very big world and I think the mistake that a lot of people make is that they just pick a market that they would like to succeed in, thinking they’ll do it all in Asia for example but the market might not be suitable,” Maxwell explains.

It might seem like an obvious point, but not every country is suited to buying English and Welsh wine. As he adds, five years ago many importers would say ‘I didn’t know Britain even made wine’. Therefore there are some key things to consider when choosing where to export, according to the Hattingley Valley commercial director. This starts with regions that already had a mature wine market, like premium wine and respect British quality.

"It has to be relatively open, mature enough that they’re familiar with buying premium quality wine, they probably have wine education systems in place like the WSET, they’ve got wine magazines on the shelves, and it’s countries that are wealthy enough to do it”.

Sell the positives of your product Although it’s a relatively new product in most markets, Maxwell explained there are a lot of positives to English wine. “The UK has been the centre of the wine world for centuries. We’ve been really a key cog in the wine trade around the world for various reasons. We’re seen as a very mature wine market and very well respected so for us to be able to offer something else back to the world that is premium quality fits really nicely.”

As well as being a country that has the right climate to produce sparkling wine, which offers some prestige, the UK is seen as quite a prestigious country with a lot of heritage, he said, adding “there’s not a lot that comes out of Britain that’s cheap”. The bonus, he explained is that the ‘price versus quality is pretty good’.

Learn about your markets – and treat each like a different customer While it might sound like we’ve given you the basics for starting to export, there are intricacies to each country when it comes to their customs, and, Customs.

“You treat a country like you treat a customer – your average restaurant partner is not the same as dealing with Waitrose and dealing with Waitrose is not the same as dealing with the local wine shop,” said Maxwell.

“The US is one of the trickiest ones,” he said. “When we started shipping wine to America, even sending samples there is not straight forward. You must have a COLA (Certificate of Label Approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau). Some people say they just want to send a pallet of wine into New York and it’s not that simple, you need things like label approval from the TTB or Customs will stop it.”

Maxwell adds that a good importer will be able to assist you with these things, and explain what you need to do. However, the WineGB Export Committee has now produced country guides for members from their experiences.

Be passionate about your wine Maxwell warned that it’s a ‘hard slog’ selling English wine around the world.

“Most English wine is premium price and people might think that it is exported all around the world so there must be lots of people desperate to buy our wines,” he said.

“However, it’s a very premium priced product. Our biggest competitor is Champagne, whatever anyone else tells you that’s my opinion, and they’re

a region that makes 300 million bottles a year and have been around for centuries - and they’ve been exporting it around the world for centuries. That’s our competitor so it’s quite a tough gig.”

A hands-off approach won’t foster big deals or repeat orders, he adds. “It takes instilling passion into the people you’re selling to and getting them to pass that passion on to their customers, and for their customers to then pass that on to the end customer.

“We have to work harder than most vineyard regions as we are new, relatively unheard of and priced at the top end. No-one needs our wines at the moment, its down to all of us to create a category that is English sparkling wine but it’s going to take a long time to achieve that.”

Visit wine fairs If you’re considering exporting, international trade fair ProWein in Dusseldorf, Germany, is the place to start.

“As long as they have the scale, then the first step is to go to ProWein, that is the most important international wine trade fair in the world,” said Maxwell.

“WineGB take a stand there in order for the producers to work together.

“You meet distributors, suppliers, and it’s a one stop shop. We got our American and Australian importer from going to ProWein. A lot of the time that’s when the deal gets done.”

Don’t expect it to end there

> Gareth Maxwell

In some cases, importers can come knocking if a tender has been put out for a particular country, something that happens in Scandinavia for example.

This can see vineyards enter a market with minimal effort but Maxwell warned that while this can be a short term win there are more beneficial avenues to pursue.

“I think, unfortunately, a lot of English producers think it just happens; that there’s a market and demand out there for English wine now. Actually a lot of producers have worked hard to establish that and everyone has to play their part and collaborate and invest together, and that’s what we started to do as the export committee,” he said.

“We’re starting to work more collaboratively together in order to work in focused markets. The focus market at the moment is America, and I think that will be the case for a very long time. What we realised as a committee is, we were going over piecemeal, one or two wineries going over at a time to different states. That’s fine but you’re only creating so much noise.”

A range of initiatives are now in place for WineGB members with help and support from the Department of International Trade and its GREAT Campaign.

For those wanting more advice on exporting, the WineGB’s Export Committee is a great place to start, with chairman Maxwell inviting other vineyards to contact him if they want advice. The committee currently consists of Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Hush Heath, Ridgeview, Bolney, Simpsons, Ambriel and Fairmile Vineyard.

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WINEMAKING

Defy and define Contract wine makers Defined Wine continue to release products with high praise. We go behind the scenes to find out how they do it.

Henry Sugden and his team have taken the focus away from the wine.

That might sound like a very strange thing to say about Kent-based contract wine makers Defined Wine, and who knows if Henry will ever forgive me for it, but there’s something else at the heart of everything they do.

Because the company doesn’t have any brands or style of its own, its focus is producing wine to the highest standard and making sure they have the consistency to repeat that in every single bottle. The one thing that is central to what they do is quality, and fortunately a byproduct of that is fantastic wine.

I joke with him about his very honest newsletters, and he confesses that friends have told him to be slightly less honest, but it’s things

like this that cut to the core of Defined Wine in my opinion. A very honest approach. There is no bravado, in fact they work quietly behind the scenes for a number of different vineyards.

Henry started the business two years ago, having identified a need for more contract winemaking he decided early on to only make wine for others, rather than have his own vines and brands. “How many beef farmers do you know who design and sell handbags on Bond Street? I wanted to focus on one element of the process and do it really well,” Henry tells me with some of that honesty from the start.

Henry has a small but carefully selected

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team, who he credits as his best investment. Head winemaker Rob has over 25 years worth of expertise, mainly in Australia, where he has worked for Accolade (Hardy’s) and other major brands. From the start Henry has called on the experience of consultant winemaker Owen Elias, recently described by Matthew Jukes as the ‘Gandalf of the English wine scene’.

Poppy Seeley, the assistant winemaker is another great example of the international experience the team bring. She has an MSc from Plumpton in Viticulture and Oenology but has completed harvests in Australia, New Zealand, California, South Africa and UK. Meanwhile, production manager Pete has a background in bottling craft beer but wanted to move into wine and now applies his technical expertise to running the bottling, disgorging and labelling lines. Their cellar hand, another Pete, has a background in wine sales but wanted to get into the production side and even office manager Carole started her working life marketing wine for >> independent wine merchant Yapp Brothers in the west country.

> Henry Sugden in front of the OenoFlow XL Pall cross flow filter for filteration

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> Checking sulphur aspiration

<<

“Most of our clients are small or mediumsized growers. We will visit them to understand their site, their grapes and their aspirations.

Sometimes they’ll say ‘I really like this Pinot Gris from a certain vineyard, can you make me something like that?’ Others may have their own winemaker who will specify pressing cycles, yeasts and additions. We are happy to work with either approach or anything in between. We have one client who has been making his own wine for the last 10 years but looked at all the rain at the end of last year, thought this is going to be really hard work and came to us. Our great advantage is that we are not distracted by balancing their requirements with making our own wine at the same time

> OneoFoss machine - everything we do is about supporting the people we make for”.

“As a contract winemaker we need to be consistent in what we do and deliver the best for people” Henry tells me. “Rob has a very modern and rigorous approach and he’s instilled that culture in all of us. We realised that we needed technology to support this approach and ensure product quality, which is what will make our clients want to stay with us.”

They have therefore invested heavily in technology and equipment, although because of the lockdown, he’s only able to show me around the winery via his phone screen.

“We are very lucky in that both Rob and

> Poppy Seeley, assistant winemaker Poppy have a lot of lab experience and Rob convinced me that we needed to invest in the lab. We therefore bought an OenoFoss machine last year,” he said, “although as Rob keeps reminding me, it will take several years to properly calibrate.

“But it allows us to run a lot of numbers quickly, to see how far wines are going through MLF etc. In addition we use wet chemistry and have a dissolved oxygen and CO2 meter; a spectrophotometer; heat bath, and soon cold conductivity testing; centrifuge; can run sulphurs by aspiration; and a portable density meter, all of which help track exactly how the wines are doing and inform winemaking decisions, whilst still relying heavily on the >>

> Peter Robinson, cellar hand

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<<

> Lauren Mattei, cellar hand

experience and palate of the team”.

In the winery, Defined Wine has jumped ahead of its size to meet the standard it aspires to achieve, having just installed a Pall Oneo CrossFlow filter. “Rob was insistent that we should be using a crossflow, as it is gentle on the wine and reduces losses. Having spoken to Tom Barnes at Biddenden who raved about theirs, we therefore took the plunge and have been really pleased with the results.” Similarly, in addition to their cooling system, they have a mobile Kreyer heat exchanger unit, which has to come into its own when cold stabilising small volumes.

On their disgorging line, they have installed a jetting unit, which reduces oxygen pick up pre corking and a machine that checks the fill height of every bottle as well as that the cork and wire hood are properly fitted and ensures the integrity of the cork. “Rather than manually checking small random samples, we are able to check 100% of bottles, which again is about ensuring a really consistent high quality product, especially important since we have already disgorged over 70,000 bottles for several clients since installing the line in March, much of which has gone straight out to supermarkets” says Henry. They are particularly proud of their riddling, disgorging, labelling and packaging, especially since, with a joint venture partner, they are able to store a significant quantity of wine in temperature controlled, secure, bonded storage at a number of sites, providing a complete on-lees ageing service.

During the lockdown, their office manager has worked from home but the rest of the team have been able to keep apart in the winery and production has continued. The only exception has been head winemaker Rob Merrick who is stranded in Australia and will now be staying there.

I ask Henry just how many bottles of wine does the business produce a year?

He laughs: “That is the thing about being a contract facility, it is very tricky to say exactly. We’re just going through the audit process for the WineGB sustainable wine scheme and have had exactly the same >> question.

> Poppy Seeley, assistant winemaker and Owen Elias, consultant winemaker

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WINEMAKING

<<

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“It’s difficult because last year we took some grapes in, pressed them and sent them out as juice; we had other juice in, fermented it and sent it out in IBCs; some grapes we pressed, fermented, put through MLF and the wine we will leave in tanker; whilst for others we will take their grapes all the way through to bottling and packaging, or storage and later disgorging for the sparklings; oh and we also fermented some cider.

There’s so much variation.”

It seems my next question is another difficult one, as I hear a hint of resignation from Henry when I ask something he clearly hears a lot.

“People often ask, what’s the right size to have your wine made by someone else? And it’s one of those really impossible questions - there is no right size,” he says. “You can have half an acre of vineyard and you can make your own wine in your garden shed and that can be perfect, or you can be producing 10-50,000 bottles a year and it makes sense to have it made elsewhere. It really depends on what you want, where you want to put your capital and where your expertise lies.

> Poppy Seeley, assistant winemaker

> Peter Brissenden, production manager

> Peter Robinson, cellar hand

> Owen Elias, consultant winemaker “It’s not always about the funding, it’s have you got the right size of land, is the winery in the right place, what is the access, can you get planning permission, what are the water restrictions, what hours can you operate?

That’s before you’ve got experienced people and thought about tanks and equipment. The great thing is that there are so many different models that people can do whatever works best for them, which makes for such a varied and vibrant UK scene. What we want to do is provide an option, which will work for some.

“We’ve grown up very differently in our approach to winemaking in the UK than on the continent. Many people will have their own winery but will use mobile facilities that are often locally based. Here we are more geographically dispersed and there haven’t been so many options, but every other industry uses outsourcing and winemaking should be no different.

“We always try and add value to our clients though. If producing wine is about three processes: growing grapes, making wine and selling wine, we’re focused on the middle stage only but I’m very conscious of the

> Lauren Mattei, cellar hand

> Henry Sugden, CEO

elements either side, they are all interlinked. The great thing about being a contract facility is that we can leverage support that small growers would find difficult or time consuming to organise on their own.

“We therefore run viticulture sessions for our growers, using Peter Hayes who is an internationally renowned Australian viticulturalist and Rob Saunders from Hutchinsons who writes for Vineyard. Because they can’t be in the vineyard now, we have run the last two sessions over Zoom, with Peter and Rob providing advice and answering questions, all of which should help our growers grow better grapes, in turn making better wine.

I also try to provide contacts to people to help them sell their wines, as there’s no point making wine for people if they can’t sell it.”

Maybe my first statement was a bit brash, it is all about the wine at Defined Wine. It’s about the quality when the grapes arrive and when the wine leaves – whatever stage the customers might choose that to be in.

The team is dedicated to focusing on its production from every angle and we can’t wait to see what they make next.

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WINEMAKING

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Filling technology ups quality

M a rk C

Advances in filling and sanitisation technologies with filling machines Preservation of aromas, flavours and alcohol for quality wines Preserving wine aroma is imperative for winemakers who want the wine bottle to reflect the quality that was present in the tank or barrel before bottling. Older Vacuum filling techniques improved filling from historical gravity filling with high oxygen exposure but in turn had introduced a number of negative factors with aromas, flavours and gaseous components removed/ stripped during the filling operation. Wines suffer from “bottle shock” and can take 3-5 months to recover, instead a revolutionary system of light pressure of inert gas on the wine permits aromas, flavours and gaseous components of the wine to be retained during bottling.

Exclusion of oxygen during the bottling process The ‘Deox’ system can guarantee that during their bottling process

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there will be no oxygen added to the wine. This is achieved due to the filling system which utilises a light pressure inert gas and also by the utilisation of a ‘Deox' system and the design of the filling tank, which can be divided into two separate chambers.

The technical explanation of this claim is based on the following principles: ◆ Before bottling commences, all air inside the filling tank is exchanged with inert gas. ◆ This is by way of an annular, hermetic and pressure-resistant tank incorporated on the machine. To remove all air, inert gas equal to 8 times the tank’s volume is needed to flood the tank. ◆ During the filling process, a pressure control valve retains a constant low pressure of inert gas on the wine (usually chosen at 0,1 bar). ◆ The ‘Deox’ system comprises of a rotary turret with several heads placed immediately before the filling turret: the 'Deox' system uses a high-vacuum pump for removing air from the incoming bottle with high efficiency (85 – 90%) followed

by an injection device for flooding the bottle with inert gas. During its passage from the "Deox" turret to the filling turret, the bottle neck is covered by a tunnel which is flooded with inert gas to avoid the ingress of air or oxygen that could re-contaminate the bottle. ◆ After the bottle has been filled with product, any remaining gas space in the bottle neck is exhausted with inert gas prior to corking.

By using the above process, Bruni Erben machines can exclude oxygen and prevent the oxidation of wine, with a reliable, consistent and user-friendly system.

Cleaning and sanitisation of the machine Advanced filling machines can now use both water and steam at pressures of up to 3 bars. If the annular ring

WINEMAKING tank is manufactured using thick stainless steel material giving operational pressures up to 4 bars. The highly polished inside surface of the filling tank and valves prevent micro biological contamination. Furthermore, with the reduced volume and surface area of the tank, cleaning and sterilisation is much easier to achieve efficiently. ◆ Firstly, by the injection of water into the tank at 3 bar pressure, a deep cleansing of all passages inside the filling valves is obtained. ◆ Secondly, the pressurized water can completely flood the tank and be exhausted by a control valve positioned at the highest point of the tank. ◆ Thirdly, if required, steam can be injected at up to 3 bar pressure inside the filling tank and valve system, achieving a sterilising temperature of up to 130 – 140°c, giving complete reliability of perfect sterilisation.

This can only be achieved in this way by the mechanical design of the filling bowl, and the material chosen for the sealing of any moving components.

This is beneficial as ‘dummy bottles’ which demand down time for mounting and removal are no longer required.

Ultra-clean filling system This filling system using low pressure of inert gas (0,1 bar) inside the tank prevents oxidation of the wine which is also helpful in avoiding the risk of micro biological pollution. In contrast, a vacuum system has a considerable quantity of air (10-15 square meters per hour) entering the filling tank, with high risk of atmospheric pollution.

Bottle-holder liſts The bottle lifts on all fillers are located above and outside of product spillage areas, and are mechanically operated by spring-loaded systems.

When this system is compared to the traditional piston system used by almost all others, it is convenient as the machine base-plate can be properly cleaned, without the risk of water and wine entering the pistons and causing mechanical damage as well as micro biological pollution inside the machine.

High legs and ‘Laminar Flow Chamber’ Mounting on high adjustable legs to allow under cleaning.

A ‘laminar flow

chamber', comprising of an enclosed surrounding panel system designed to exclude the introduction of particles from the outside environment.

Due to the continuous introduction of microfiltered air (2 microns), a constant over-pressure is created inside the closed chamber (0,5 bars), preventing and excluding the ingress of air and any small particles entering from the outside environment.

Conclusion

Using more advanced and newer technology offers important advantages achieving: ◆ No waste of aroma, flavours and gaseous components of the wine. ◆ No oxidation of the wine, due to utilisation of the ‘Deox’ system and filling by the use of low pressure inert gas inside the tank. ◆ Highly efficient, ease of cleaning and sterilisation of the system due to availability of washing and steaming at 3 bar pressure. ◆ Semi aseptic filling, due to constant low pressure inert gas (0,1 bar) inside the tank and 'laminar flow chamber'.

 www.BruniErben.co.uk  07805 081677 paper-plane, Mark.Crumpton@BruniErben.co.uk M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

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AGRONOMY

Rob S

a

ders un

Agronomy diary

Ch

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a wet June, then hot July, resulting in immense leaf growth as vines were flowering. Excess foliage, combined with warm, wetter conditions will increase risks from Phomopsis, Downy mildew and Botrytis, which must be prepared for.

Botrytis usually infects plants through wounds, flowers or ripening fruit and remains the focus of most disease control programmes as flowering begins. It is best controlled with a robust, threespray strategy starting at early flowering, then mid-flowering and a final spray at late-flower.

Risk is greatest in damp, warm conditions, but is heightened by thick canopies or large amounts of under-storey weed growth, which holds moisture close to vines.

Downy mildew equally needs moisture for infection to occur, with mancozeb being the preferred option early in the season.

Managing vegetation beneath vines helps mitigate disease risk, but remember there are limits on total glyphosate use over the season, so plan applications carefully and integrate with mechanical weeding or mulches where appropriate.

An example programme may be to apply 1.5kg/ ha of Roundup Powermax for the first cleanup, followed by another 1kg/ha with carfentrazoneethyl later. Carfentrazone-ethyl is also useful for burning-off suckers, rather than doing so mechanically or by hand.

Finally, consider applying a biostimulant during flowering; options among the seaweed extracts are either Maxicrop to improve leaf function or Kelpak to promote set by enhancing pollen

per Coo

Protecting new vine growth from pests and diseases is the priority as the all-important flowering period nears, as Rob Saunders and Chris Cooper from Hutchinsons explain.

The dry spring may have reduced early risks from wet weather fungal diseases but other threats remain and conditions can change quickly, so it is essential growers maintain their guard.

Phomopsis is still a priority early in the season, and is best managed by protecting clusters as soon as they are visible at the 3-5 inch shoot growth stage. Mancozeb-based products are preferred, but kresoxim-methyl has also shown worthwhile efficacy.

Mancozeb is a good “dual purpose” option as it is also effective against Downy mildew, although at the time of writing, this risk is relatively low due to dry conditions.

Instead, Powdery mildew has been more of a threat. It is a “compound interest” disease, which means it can build quickly from a low base, so preventative control is essential. The disease is very difficult to tackle curatively and flowers are particularly sensitive to infection, which can lead to micro cracks in developing berries, increasing susceptibility to botrytis.

Varieties vary in Powdery mildew tolerance, with hybrids more resilient than Champagne varieties, which account for around half of UK vines.

We saw in 2019 how quickly the weather can change, when the dry April/May was followed by

is

Keep disease guard up as flowering approaches.

activity, but they should not be mixed with each other, so instead consider Cultigrow, which appears to do both.

We are also starting to evaluate the Vineus range from Lallemand, particularly Pinot Pro Flowering. Based on amino acids and yeast, it is used to promote set in Pinot (and Chardonnay), reducing millerandage.

Pest trapping May is also the time to put out pheromone monitoring traps for Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) and Spotted Winged Drosophila (SWD).

LBAM risk is generally greatest along southern English coastal counties and presents the greatest threat at two key timings. The first generation of caterpillars emerge in late spring and can cause significant yield losses by feeding on primary inflorescences, while the second generation later in the year feeds on grape bunches, reducing yield and quality, and increasing botrytis risk.

There is a good range of products to control LBAM, for both conventional (e.g. indoxacarb) and organic systems, however discuss product choice with your local Hutchinsons advisor, as restrictions can apply and some options may be better reserved for SWD control later in the season.

 www.hlhltd.co.uk paper-plane information@hlhltd.co.uk  01945 461177 M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

r

GRAPE GROWING

The vine post

Darcy G

a er nd

Services continue for the season ahead.

We are all suffering during these unprecedented times either on a personal and/or business level and our best wishes go out to the invaluable NHS workers and carers. However the team at VineWorks are aiming to continue to provide our normal high quality service to UK vineyards, either with our vineyard management and establishment teams or through our retail department. There have been some supply chain delays with products coming from Europe, but these are minor and are caused by slower productions and transport times.

Since the lockdowns across Europe and the closure of the Schengen area borders there has been a lot of misinformation spread by the media, leading to confusion in the UK and Europe. So, I thought it important to update readers about our position for this season.

At the time of the UK lockdown on 23rd March many countries in Europe were already in lockdown and the Vine-Works pruning teams were still completing their winter work. Consequently, a large proportion of our vineyard labour teams decided to remain in the UK throughout the lockdown and we have managed to find sufficient work to keep them busy up until the commencement of spring tasks, which have already started on some sites in the last week. Thanks to the work by the WineGB team it was established early on that vineyard and winery staff are classified as essential key workers. This has enabled us to maintain a workflow and guarantee loyal customers their regular teams.

Those of you who already work with us know that we pride ourselves on our quality and reliability and this is acknowledged in our high numbers of staff retention. This means that we retain the skill set and you are likely to recognise the teams that work on your vineyards year on year. Also, all of our European staff have applied and been accepted onto the EU Settlement Scheme so we can guarantee that all of our staff will keep coming to your vineyards.

In addition to our labour teams, our colleagues Ernst Weiss and Dietmar

Minges arrived from Germany on 1st May to begin the planting season.

We have been working with the most experienced planting contractors in Europe for two decades now and they have never let us down. My team mates James, Will and Chris will be travelling around the UK in the next month planting new vineyards so if you have a last minute project or have been let down elsewhere don’t hesitate to contact us. As we do each spring, we have our vines delivered directly to our refrigerated store in early March so we can guarantee supply for existing orders and we anticipate no issue for additional requests.

Since the beginning of lockdown all of our management team have been social distancing and working from home, however Cherry Constable our retail manager has been flying solo at Vine-Works HQ and has been taking your orders and calls for all of your viticultural necessities. Don’t hesitate to call Cherry, (or her co-worker Kara the greyhound) any time for prices and information.

There has been a lot of media about various land army initiatives, however details from the Association of Labour Providers have stated that despite the initial enthusiasm from the domestic workforce, there were “50,000 applicants, 6,000 completed interviews and 200 accepted job offers”. Clearly recently furloughed staff are looking for short term employment whilst growers and contractors require a lasting commitment. I would anticipate that growers hoping to use local recruits will find some challenges in transporting new staff to vineyards and if there is a lack of work pipeline new recruits are unlikely to stay. With the new health and safety requirements of social distancing there will be challenges in the work place and transport to the work place.

Thanks to the warm weather in April bud-break has been even although some unprotected sites have suffered frost damage. We hope that everyone stays safe and well during the Covid 19 crisis and we’re hoping for a productive season ahead.

 www.vine-works.com paper-plane, sales@vine-works.com  01273 891777

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Cowderoy Op o e J

ns t io ra

Representing you

Ma nager

Working in partnership with Vineyard Magazine for a developing UK wine industry.

WineGB is the national trade body representing the vine growers and winemakers of Great Britain from the largest producers to small hobbyists.

Our members work together with the organisation to develop strategy, expertise and marketing opportunities for long-term, sustainable success.

#ENGLISHWINENIGHT:

Join our weekly socials

Taking place every Friday at 7pm, this ‘happy hour’ on social media is just one of several initiatives that WineGB is rolling out to support members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The key objective is simple: to help UK wine producers to sell their wine and enable consumers to buy it.

Following the highly successful #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday on 10 April, WineGB is continuing the series of Friday Wine Nights with a focus each week on a different regional vineyard association in the UK. Each evening includes online tastings, videos posted by winemakers, Q&A sessions and encouraging followers to post photos of themselves enjoying English wines.

Lots of vineyards and winemakers are getting involved, retailers are giving live tastings, and plenty of wine celebrities and influencers are

English Wine Week: a more digital approach

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Given the current uncertainty and ongoing restrictions English Wine Weeks and Welsh Wine Weeks have been moved to June – the new dates being Saturday 20 – Sunday 28 June. “We know that English Wine Week is such a popular campaign for vineyards and the many outlets they supply, and we wanted to ensure we could give maximum support in light of the changing circumstances this year. Our wish is that come June we will all be able to look ahead to the summer months with a bit more hope.” comments Julia Trustram Eve, WineGB’s marketing manager.

As it is unknown exactly how far openings will be allowed, there will be more of a digital approach to promotions. Any events, promotions or activities, including virtual tastings and tutorials, will be listed prominently on the WineGB website and promoted across all their social media channels. WineGB is

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

If you are interested in wine production in the UK find out more about WineGB and join us. Visit our website www.winegb.co.uk

JOIN US FOR

#ENGLISHWINENIGHT BUY. SUPPORT. DRINK ENGLISH WINE. joining in too!

Join in at 7pm each Friday by logging on to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and follow the activity by using the hashtag #EnglishWineNight.

All videos are posted to the WineGB YouTube

channel. The series kicked off with a very successful #WelshWineNight on 24 April, All the dates and regions are on the WineGB website (www.winegb.co.uk/visitors/winefriday). There are lots of social media tips on the website too!

appealing to all retailers and vineyards to come on board and share their activities during the Week itself.

Guidance is available on the ‘Covid-19’ area of the website, which is open to all and not just WineGB’s subscribing members - the sentiment being that ‘we are all in this together’. Adds Simon Robinson: “We felt it important that during these exceptional times this should be extended to all those in the industry and not just our members – it is the right thing to do.”

The Covid-19 area of the website is easy to navigate, with four dedicated sections: ‘Health & Safety’, ‘Business Support’, ‘Marketing Support’ and ‘Industry Support’. Anyone can sign up for the bulletins via a quick link on the website.

Sign up for WineGB Bulletins

WineGB is supporting the industry by providing business and marketing guidance. This includes daily advice bulletins to share information from government and other key organisations.

WineGB Partner and Patrons support In these difficult times, WineGB thanks its Partners and Patrons, who are supporting the association and its members by providing sector updates, advice and information on services that remain available. These businesses and their services are listed on the WineGB website.

Grapevine Symptoms Guide As the growing season gets underway so do the pests and diseases! This visual crop walker style Guide to Recognising Grapevine Symptoms is one of the many benefits of joining WineGB. Contact us: office@wineGB.co.uk

2019 production figures The Wine Standards Branch (Food Standards Agency) have released the UK production figures for the past year. Despite a more challenging year compared to the ‘dream’ 2018, production overall totalled 78,606hl, equivalent to 10.48m bottles. This is broken down as follows:

White: Red/rosé: Sweet reserve:

67,864.63hl 10,730.70hl 10.72hl

To see the breakdown between table/varietal/ PGI/PDO please visit the WineGB website.

Further figures related to 2019 will be shared from the results of the WineGB/Wine Intelligence survey that is currently underway.

The Grape Press magazine: free digital download

Marketing webinars and peer-to-peer online meetings

For the first, and only, time, WineGB’s industry’s magazine, The Grape Press, will be released as a free digital download, to share far and wide with all interested producers, consumers and trade. This 130-page journal will contain a range of news items, review of activities as well as technical articles covering all aspects of viticulture, winemaking and wine business in the UK. The Grape Press will be available to download via the WineGB website mid-May.

WineGB is offering a series of free one-hour webinars and peer-to-peer online meetings to help producers maximise marketing, communication and wine sales. These will bring together business and marketing experts to share knowledge, practical advice and experience. The webinars will include a Q&A session and recordings will be available on the WineGB YouTube channel after the events.

5 May at 6pm:

Understanding the Customer Journey

Shop Local: buy English and Welsh wines direct

7 May at 6pm: Maximising Sales in a Pandemic

14 May at 6pm:

Another of the WineGB initiatives include a ‘Shop Local’ page on the website to highlight vineyards that are selling online, together with retailers that stock English and Welsh wines. If you are a retailer and would like to be listed, please contact WineGB. “We’ve been hit pretty hard by Covid-19 and the lockdown, although as part of the agricultural sector we are permitted to continue some of our operations compared to some other industries.

Many have lost significant business through closure of cellar doors and tastings and of course the shutting down of the hospitality industry which is a major source of income for some. However, we are greatly encouraged to see the increase in internet sales over the last weeks which is helping many.”

Comments Simon Robinson, Chairman of WineGB.

Follow us on:

instagram

@winegb

Social Media Essentials

21 May at 6pm: Direct Sales to the Consumer

28 May at 6pm:

Instagram – how it works, best practice

4 June at 6pm:

Email marketing and Mailchimp Further details and registration is on the WineGB website.

A future series of webinars is planned, so please regularly check the bulletins and website.

facebook-square

@winegb

twitter-square

@wine_gb

#Englishwinenight #Welshwinenight

JOIN WINEGB

 01858 467792 paper-plane, office@winegb.co.uk  www. WineGB.co.uk M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

45

SALES AND MARKETING

Wined, sealed, delivered As wine by post becomes a growing market under lockdown, we get some top tips on how you can ensure your precious cargo makes it to the end user.

46

Wine makers and retailers have seen a marked increase in online sales during the lockdown, and with hospitality not looking like it will be able to function normally for months to come it’s been a welcome supplement to the missed trade.

As reported earlier in this magazine, the category of beers, wines and spirits saw a 78% increase in online sales in the first four weeks of the lockdown compared to a 10% overall rise. Whether that’s because more people are shopping online generally or they’re choosing to bulk buy heavier items and have them delivered, it’s certainly something worth taking note of.

Many vineyards will be looking for new ways to market and sell their wines online but that’s arguably not the biggest obstacle between a customer paying and them receiving it. For some vineyards, this might seem like a tap of revenue generation that can be switched on but it’s fair to say there are complexities and added costs of posting that might not be as simple as your deliveries for larger orders.

Some vineyards are choosing to only deliver locally, which saves on postage and packaging costs, means you know the bottle has arrived intact, but currently this requires meeting government social distancing advice to protect customers and staff. For those looking to send their wines further afield, Vineyard Magazine has sought the advice of people who have made posting wine their business to find out how to avoid breakages and breaking the rules.

“It was the least fun part of starting the business,” explained Natasha Ingle of The British Wine Cellar, which has just launched its online shop retailing only wine from English and Welsh growers.

She explained that it's more than just choosing a courier that will deliver glass and liquids. Some will specify the packaging they want you to use and that can become a costly decision for your business.

She said: “The bit that the couriers want to check is obviously around breakages. We went into this thinking that they don’t like shipping wine because if it breaks, they have to pay you back. The issue is actually about the wine seeping into other packages that are in the same delivery round.

“If you’ve sent a bottle of red wine and that seeps into other packages, it’s not just that they

M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

have to reimburse you, it’s that they have to reimburse lots of other people too. Because most standard couriers say on their website that they don’t carry glass or liquids what you then need to do is get in touch with them and explain that you know what you’re doing and this is your business. You then end up speaking with someone about packaging standards.”

The issue with this is that there are no set standards from couriers when it comes to sending glass and liquids. These aren’t specific regulations, they come down to what a particular courier is willing to ship. In some cases the answer is simply no. For example, Royal Mail will let you send glass and liquid up to one-litre – as long as it’s sealed to their standards – but that’s not going to work if you need to send more than two bottles or even a case.

It might seem over cautious as you can’t see what’s inside a package, but unfortunately it’s fairly difficult to disguise a liquid by its nature.

The risk you run if you do send a liquid when you shouldn’t be is having your order cancelled with no refund or if it breaks in transit you won’t be insured.

However, there are couriers who will ship your liquids, but if you don’t take care to meet their standards you also won’t be insured - even if you’ve paid for it.

“Different couriers have different types of packaging that they prefer. In some cases, couriers have their own wine boxes that they insist you use, others just need to see pictures of what you use.

“They’ll have a chat with you first about the volumes your planning in each box and then they’ll want to see how you plan to pack each box.”

There are a variety of options when it comes to protecting your wine but the other thing to consider, in times when consumers are more concerned about how sustainable their choices are, is the Earth friendly implications your packaging has. There are currently a few options on the market that offer different solutions to post wine, but they vary in their ability to be recycled.

Back to our example of Royal Mail, it doesn’t really matter how eco-friendly you want to be, it wants you to pack your wine in a sealed polyethene bag.

Garçon Wines, which makes flat wine

bottles that post through letter boxes, reported an overall increase of around 600% in orders from its customers in March and April with the majority of this offered through online gifting platforms. “It’s a great indicator that not only do consumers want to send a wine gift in a way that’s convenient for the recipient to receive but also that they want to choose a bottle that’s much kinder on the planet,” said business development manager for the brand Amelia Dales.

It's also seen a 240% increase in demand for its wine packaging solutions during the period, suggesting that more people are looking for packaging solutions during the lockdown period.

Garçon Wines also suggest considering the impact of ensuring successful first-time delivery which not only avoids the inconvenience of missed deliveries but the additional CO2 emissions of further attempted deliveries, collection from local sorting offices or adds to the risk of breakages.

It might all sound like a lot of effort to post a single wine bottle but the positive is once you’ve got a system you can rest easy that your wine has the best chance of making it to the end user.

One thing is for sure, a box of broken glass is a very strange gift to receive in the post.

SALES AND MARKETING

#theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday reaches 13 million people English wine initiative from Black Chalk winemaker Jacob Leadley – called #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday – has been hailed as an unmitigated success by wineries.

The #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday was mentioned 4.9k times across key social media channels – Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – by 3.7k users, reaching 13 million consumers by the end of the Easter weekend. At its Friday evening peak, the hashtag was trending at number four in the UK. Billed as an online English and Welsh wine tasting extravaganza to encourage consumers to support wineries hit by the impact of Covid-19 on cellar door and on-trade sales, the event had only been dreamt up on the 27 March when Leadley tweeted: “If every person in the UK that loves English or Welsh wine bought a bottle direct from their favourite producer I think we might secure an entire industry and their workforce on one very enjoyable evening.”

Leadley said: “I was delighted that the idea born from a simple tweet gathered so much support across the industry in the lead up to the event. I have been contacted by producers directly who saw significant increases in sales in the two weeks run in and while these sales will not fix all the problems we face currently, it will mean we come out the other side a little stronger and that is all I can ask.

“I didn’t expect the event itself to be as large as it was; it created a positive buzz around the industry at a time of difficulty and I would like to thank everyone who helped to make that happen and took part. I think we created the largest online tasting of English and Welsh wines ever!"

Black Chalk saw its sales increase by 295% compared to the previous two weeks and they have now sold out of the 2016 Wild Rose.

He added: “These sales will go a long way to ensuring Black Chalk won’t need to furlough any staff during the current crisis and will provide a platform for us to build upon once we emerge from this.”

Nick Wenman of Surrey’s Albury Vineyard reported over 70 additional orders for home delivery as a result of the initiative, resulting in nearly £5,000 extra income.

Ruth Simpson, from Simpsons’ Wine Estate commented: “ This fantastic initiative has seemed to have had a positive impact on promoting English and Welsh wines, as well as providing a sense of community and togetherness.

Simpsons’ Wine Estate saw a direct uplift in sales in the lead up to the event and over the weekend too. It was wonderful to partner with fellow local producer, Chapel Down, plus our friends and neighbours at The PIG Hotel group to champion “supporting local” at this time.”

Charlie Holland at Gusbourne added: “As a result of last week’s event we have had a much higher level of engagement through our social media channels and were delighted to have received a significant number of internet orders when we returned to work after the bank holiday weekend.”

Julia Trustram Eve, marketing manager at WineGB, commented: “It was heartening to see so many people celebrating English and Welsh wines and engaging in this collective wine tasting. People were tuning in on social media from around the world and for an hour the spotlight was on our industry and the support was phenomenal.”

WineGB will be continuing with several Friday night ‘socials’. Each week will focus on a different wine region and include a chance to win a case of wine.

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M AY 2020 | V I N E YA R D

demo units available IMOLA (BO) - ITALY

MACHINERY

New sanitising equipment introduced Concerns are running high about how businesses can safely continue while an invisible virus can be transmitted so easily between people. Kirkland UK now have a solution that can help prevent its spread.

It has added a new product to its shelves to help during these difficult times. Kirkland has said it wants those in the winemaking industry to be a step ahead of the virus with its new product – Zapptizer.

It explained that the unique 22-litre sanitising kit delivers a high-pressure mist of scientifically-proven, highly effective viricidal, disinfecting, cleansing sanitizer.

The machinery supplier explains that this is ideal for your machinery and warehouses, with one canister capable of sanitising up to 750sqm.

Zappitiser delivers a rapid and effective mist from a non-flammable, pre-pressured canister and misting gun, it can be used on plant, equipment, walls, floors, in both hot and cold applications, and in applications where staining must be avoided.

It is completely safe to use on all surfaces, is non-toxic, non-corrosive and emits a pleasant berry odour. Kirkland say to get in touch now as it is in stock available to order.

Argo Tractors restart production in Italy Production of Argo Tractors, with Landini, McCormick and Valpadana tractor brands, restarted on May 4.

Some departments were already back at work to prepare for a smooth recovery and the adoption of internal measures to protect the health and safety of all group employees.

Since 10 April, all Argo Tractor plants have met necessary health standards and been sanitised with a chlorine-based solution. The production lines have also been sanitised with a tractor and a sprayer, while the offices have been completed with shoulder sprayers.

The company’s aim is to ease the return to work, which will focus on employee safety, as clearly specified in a tutorial video highlighting the required behaviours for the staff as well as the list of personal protective equipment that will be provided.

Social distancing with respect for colleagues

will be in place, as well as body temperature tests, washing hands frequently, disinfecting the workplace, wearing gloves and a mask.

President of Argo Tractors Valerio Morra said: "The health of our employees, customers and partners is a primary commitment, as well as part of our corporate mission and will certainly not fail now production is due to resume.

“Social distancing, measuring temperatures at the entrance, using masks and sanitizing workstations are just some of the best practices already adopted and on which the team leaders have already received the required training."

He added: “In a situation like the current one, the sense of responsibility of everyone is fundamental and we ask our employees to follow the rules indicated for their own and other people's health.”

49

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Strong growth in machinery supplies March and April are traditionally the months when new machinery arrives but this year the activity has been outstanding at Vitifruit equipment. We have delivered five double row 1000-litre Lipco tunnel sprayers, two Vicar and one Atasa trailed sprayers, two front mounted flail mowers, two Boisselet front mounted double-sided pruning sweepers, one Boisselet under vine cultivator and a wire unreeler.

The hire season started with a bang when it finally stopped raining, with a variety of tools sent out to work including subsoiler, rotavator, power harrow, seed drill, strip sprayer, under vine cultivators, bud rubber and liquid iron injection into the soil.

The summer season looks to be busier than normal, too, with an increase in hire of the vine trimmers. However, even more so with the Stockmayer De-Leafer, which has proven to be as efficient as a small army of people plucking by hand.

The ever-increasing demand for under vine cultivation and weed strimming has lead to five machines available for hire and trials. These have become firm favorites with their ability to change tools according to soil type and conditions always maintaining accuracy, strength and speed with their supreme sensitivity for use around recently planted and mature plants alike.

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