Celebrating the UK wine industry

The fth annual Viti-Culture Show took place at Plumpton College on 1st June. Fruit & Vine spent the day chatting to growers and industry professionals, and enjoying some of the nest English and Welsh wines that the UK has to offer

Hosted by the centre of excellence for the UK wine industry, Plumpton College, visitors could pre-book to tour the state-of-the-art facilities on site.

There was also a large number of exhibitors, from vineyard consultants to land agents, specialist machinery manufacturers and dealers, winery equipment suppliers, agronomists, brand and packaging specialists, and professional service providers, who were on hand to o er advice on every aspect of establishing and managing a vineyard, plus producing, packaging and marketing the wines.

The seminars were a popular part of the day –you'll nd content from these in the next issue of Fruit & Vine.

Covering all aspects of vineyard management

Vine Care UK Ltd, The Vineyard Store and The Grape Exchange were all represented on one stand at this year’s Viti-Culture show.

Vine Care UK’s Steve Burnett and Alice Richards spoke with the Fruit & Vine team, explaining that the Magon posts they offer have a low price point yet perform well, offering the required longevity for a trellising system.

The Grape Exchange is the most recent project created by the management team behind Vine Care UK Ltd - with the aim of the business being to connect buyers and sellers of grapes and bulk wines across the UK. Steve explained that it perfectly complements the services offered by the other two businesses.

For wineries of all sizes

Vigo supplies wine production equipment from brands such as Speidel, Willmes, Enoveneta, Kreyer, CIMEC and Barida, for wineries of all sizes.

Covering everything from grape presses and reception, tanks and chill systems, to bottling and canning lines, and disgorging and dosage, the company has an in-house team of engineers, who are on hand to provide full servicing and maintenance assistance. Meanwhile, sister company Rawlings Bristol offers bottles and on-brand bottle decoration. Pictured is sales director, Andy Pegman.

Key machinery franchises

Ernest Doe is the largest agricultural machinery dealership in the UK, with 19 branches covering the majority of the UK vine growing area and a number of key machinery franchises. Pictured at Viti-Culture 2023 (l-r) are: Ernest Doe Power Ashford area sales manager, Bradley Cordrey; Keith Rennie Machinery’s David Wagstaff; Ernest Doe Power Albourne area sales manager, Joe Hopkins; Ernest Doe & Sons fruit & viticulture sales manager, Tom Wheatley; and Ernest Doe Power Albourne area sales manager, David Murray.

Innovative technology solutions

Core Equipment supplies innovative technology solutions to drinks producers within the juice and cider, beer, wine and spirits market, covering everything from destemmers to brewhouses to capping/ corking machines, and everything in between.

F&V caught up with wine equipment business manager Jeaffreson Paterson (left) and sales manager Dan Tomlin at the Viti-Culture event, who told us how the company has evolved over the last 12 years from simply supplying equipment to actually working with winemakers to help them achieve their ambitions by using a consultancy-based approach.

Half a century in the business

With almost half a century of experience, NP Seymour is one of the most recognisable UK specialists when it comes to fruit, hop and vine machinery. Representing brands such as Fendt tractors, BMV and ERO trimmers and defoliators, Braun and Clemens weed management equipment, Perfect and Fischer mowers, Berthoud and OCLL sprayers, Felco secateurs, Agrofrost frost fans and Pellenc grape harvesters, the team had plenty to talk about with growers on the day. Pictured (l-r) are NP Seymour sales representative Ashley Baldry; NP Seymour engineer, Steve Bowles; NP Seymour director, Claire Seymour; and Metos UK Ltd area manager, Lily Nuttall.

Quality nutrition

According to ICL’s fresh produce expert Giz Gaskin (left) and sales lead Andy Judd, everything the company does is focused on making customer crops grow better, by getting the right nutrition to plants at the right time.

Some of the innovative product solutions showcased at Viti-Culture included controlled release nutrition, water solubles and pioneering water conservation agents.

Transforming funding

Ferovinum is a new ntech solution that claims to be “transforming the way wine and spirits businesses fund their growth”.

The company provides access to a company’s ‘liquid assets’, turning stock into working capital so that it can be put back into the company as and when it’s needed. Ferovinum also hosted and sponsored the highly entertaining UK Sabrage Tournament on the day – which Fruit & Vine director, Greg Goulding, took part in. Pictured (l-r) are chief operations o cer Alex Shaw, co-founder Mitchel Fowler, and chief risk o cer Edward Sainsbery.

Making your brand stand out

Berkshire Labels Ltd business development managers Carl Jobling and Claire Pike were displaying some beautiful embossed and foiled label examples, which they’ve created for a number of well-known English wine makers. Paul explained that the company is passionate about providing high quality products with exceptional levels of customer service, and uses state-of-the-art equipment to provide an almost limitless selection of nishes.

Working in partnership

Part of the Heathcote Holdings group of companies, FGS Organics works in partnership with contracting business FGS Agri to undertake vineyard soil preparations services. FGS Pilcher can undertake groundworks and construction of trackways, parking areas, wash down bays, buildings and eld drainage, while sister company EnVar can supply nutrient-rich PAS100 soil improver to vineyards for crop and soil health improvement. Pictured (l-r): FGS Agri marketing executive, Hannah Hopkins; FGS Agri marketing assistant, Tom Stone; FGS Pilcher director, Harvey Pilcher; FGS Pilcher managing director, Clark Frost; enVar commercial manager, Whitney O’Sullivan; and FGS Organics general manager, Jamie West.

Working with winemakers

De ned Wine CEO Henry Sugden and cellar hand Janneke van der Merwe enjoyed meeting vineyard owners at the event. De ned Wine is a contract-only winery, with no vineyards or brands of its own, which offers a full ‘crate-tocase’ winemaking service or can provide any element of the process as needed.

Trellis and fence specialist

Hampton Steel Ltd specialises in steel vine trellis and perimeter fencing solutions, designed to keep pests such as deer away from vines. Hampton’s Vinelok trellis system offers strength and versatility by combining the company’s own patented and awardwinning Versalok post with its new Vinelok clip, providing a system that it says is easy to install and use. Pictured is Hampton Steel’s Tim Durham.

First tractor-powered eWeeder

Warwickshire-based electrical weed control manufacturer, RootWave was at the show to discuss its rst tractor-powered eWeeder, which follows on from the company’s professional hand-held eWeeder RootWave Pro, which was launched in 2018. The latest option treats weeds in the rows of vines, bushes and trees using treatment electrodes on purpose-designed hydraulic arms. Electricity creates heat within the weed and roots, effectively boiling them from the inside out. Communications and customer marketing manager Jimmy Phillips explained that growers can reserve a machine now, with those rst in the queue able to secure delivery in spring 2024.

‘Grape to bottle’ service

Wholesale supplier Wine Box Company (WBC) offers a variety of packaging, display and fabric bags to the food and drink market, including wine shipping boxes, gift boxes, and wine accessories. The company’s range of protective packaging covers a variety of sizes, and protection levels, and can be supplied plain or bespoke printed. Pictured is key account manager Ryad Shiko (left) with Freddie Suther-Jones.

Speaking the grower’s language

Hermens Fruitsystems is a young and dynamic company, supplying support, protection and shelter systems for the fruit growing, viticulture and automotive sectors. The pre-stressed concrete piles, steel posts and accessories are imported from Valente, which is based in Italy. Pictured at Viti-Culture 2023 are management and sales representative Jack Hermens (left) with sales representative Jeroen De Beste.

Specialist UK importer

Kirkland is the UK importer of specialist vineyard machinery including Antonio Carraro tractors, Orizzonti pruning and cultivating equipment, Giant wheel loaders, Gregoire grape harvesters and the company’s own Kirkland and Orvin brands. Pictured on the stand with Kirkland partner Scott Worsley (right) are Orizzonti’s Riccardo Raneri and Sara Tolotti.

Murphy & Son Ltd provides a ‘grape to bottle’ service aimed at helping UK wine producers to turn their grapes into award-winning bottles of wine. The company’s Stephanie Brindley (left) and Clare Sisson explained that the company prides itself on ensuring every customer’s brand quality remains consistent – from vine, to bottle and beyond.

Boosting online sales

FoodE by Oak Creative is an ecommerce platform designed for food and drink businesses. F&V chatted with Oak Creative’s Laura Bevan (left) and Jess Cook at Viti-Culture, who explained the premise behind FoodE –customers get a professional website with a host of clever features, all designed to help boost online sales. You’ll nd Oak Creative’s top tips on improving your online presence on page 60.

Wine Box Company (WBC)

Strategic expertise

Founded by award-winning winemaker Jonathan Medard (pictured), Oenolution is a customer-centric and innovative consultancy which aims to help new and established UK wine businesses to “reach new heights” by providing both pragmatic and strategic expertise, including vineyard establishment, business planning, winery design and winemaking.

Irrigation and frost protection options

Irrigation and frost protection expert Plantex was on hand to discuss a range of cost-effective and water-e cient irrigation and frost protection options, from drip irrigation to infrared frost solutions, as well as more traditional options such as frost candles.

Pictured on the stand is Plantex sales and marketing manager, Christine Hyde.