To find out what is taking place and how you can get involved in English Wine Week click here.
How as 2023 gone for WineGB so far this year in terms of your key targets and achievements?
It’s been a busy year so far. London Wine Fair was very positive for our producers that attended, English wine is most definitely cool at the moment. We had a similar story for ProWein in March.We’ve just finished judging the WineGB awards, with a record number of entries and our judges, led by co-chairs Susie Barrie MW and Oz Clarke, suitably impressed with the continued development of our industry – watch this space for results which will be out this Friday.
WineGB and leading English wine producers made their mark at this year’s ProWein
We look forward to a highly active English Wine Week and then go into preparing for our trade tasting in September, which keeps growing in size and importance each year.
There are some big changes taking place at WineGB with Simon Thorpe moving on – what do you see as the big changes and impact he has made?
Under Simon’s leadership our industry has come on leaps and bounds; our sustainability aspirations have evolved significantly so that it is at the very heart of what our industry now stands for. Watch this space for more announcements about this.
We have a stronger and larger membership than ever before, our conferences and webinar programs are delivering a huge range of information and upskilling across all sectors.
More research and development is underway to address key industry challenges; we have a wine tourism strategy in place and now have more robust data than ever before in many key areas, all of which is will serve us well as we move forward. Lastly, our sparkling wine PDO/PGI is complete and in the process of being submitted to DEFRA for ratification.
It really is an exciting time in the industry and for its future.
You have English Wine Week coming up – June 17 to June 25 – what are your key plans for that?
English Wine Week now has a momentum all of its own says WineGB’s Julia Trustram Eve
English Wine Week now seems to have a life of its own, with producers and trade planning amazing experiences to entice people to engage with our wines. Our focus now is primarily on amplifying these than having to create our own content and we are delighted to do so as it means EWW has really landed in the psyche of our industry.
What has worked well in the past with English Wine Week?
English wine by the glass works very well for the on-trade, and we often see a carry-over effect beyond the week itself.Normalising English wine by the glass would be a great help for our industry.
In the retail sector it’s a great opportunity to introduce consumers to English wines as customers are often encouraged to buy after tasting, indies have been particularly good at spreading the message.
Our producers have great success when offering experiences at their vineyard, what better way to celebrate English Wine Week than sitting in an English vineyard trying the wines from the vines, or talking to the producers? Partnering with local trades also works well.
You can’t beat direct communication to consumers and EWW really gives us the platform to do that, supported by excellent press and social media support. You can check our website for news of EWW events.
What impact does the week have in terms of overall sale and awareness of English wine?
We’ve seen reported sales increases not only during English Wine Week itself, but also across the weeks following the promotion, as it’s such a great, seasonal time of the year. It really does raise the profile of the sector and in doing so increase sales and engagement.
What would you like to see the trade doing to get behind English wine week?
We know that consumers are becoming more and more aware of the home industry – this is a perfect opportunity to engage them further with what you offer.
Use the Week to bring attention to the English wines listed to your customers – it’s a great seasonal opportunity now that we are into the great British summer season. And don’t forget that there are some great additional hooks offering an opportunity to include English wines – with Father’s Day and even Glastonbury falling during the Week. All sorts of opportunities to promote English wines.
How would you describe the English and Welsh wine market if you writing a school report?
It’s been a good start to the year, and making very good progress – continue to build on the current strategies to ensure a strong and steady growth trajectory and solid future, and keep following the overall vision to establish Great Britain as a sustainable wine region of world renown, recognised and celebrated for the quality of its wines and visitor experiences.
What is it doing well and what does it need to do better?
Building tourism across the English wine industry is a key strategy for WineGB
There is a great energy in the industry at the moment – there are new brands emerging and there remains a positive sense of collaboration within the industry too. It is in everyone’s interests to work together to raise the profile of the sector. We see this particularly in tourism and export, where a number of producers are working together to highlight this.
We recognise that there is more research and development to be done to enhance our knowledge – there are some great centres of learning and others that are working hard to not only identify the areas where research is needed most, but taking measures to make sure it happens. There is much in the pipeline.
Role of still wines vs sparkling – where do you see that balance going in the future?
Sparkling wine remains the dominant sector and grows stronger in category. We see the still wine sector has been growing in strength and range, and now offers a good range of really excellent and serious wines. We have had some great vintages for still wines recently (2020 and 2022) I know that the judges in the WineGB Awards this year have been really impressed by the growing number of still wines and the quality that they are showing.
What do you see as being the big steps the sector needs to take in the next five years?
Production of English wine is hit 26.5m bottles in 10 years time
Export, tourism (both domestic and international), developing job skills and opportunity to increase and upskill a strong workforce. We hope the government will support this increasingly important part of the fastest growing agriculture sector.
What do you think it needs to avoid doing in those five years?
Try not to grow at a pace that compromises the quality of our wines.
What are your expectations for future production levels and growth?
Based on our industry data, the current forecast is that in 10 years’ time we’ll have some 7,500ha under vine (current ha is 3,928). That is a considerable increase and could represent an approximate annual production of 26.5m bottles – more than double our current production.
We will continue to focus on the development of export markets, and help our members with domestic trade and DTC.We are also looking to have a well-funded R&D programme to benefit both the current and future industry as it continues to evolve, as well as a wide range of opportunities to work in the industry, from the agricultural side to tourism, marketing and commerce.
Anything else to say?
A date for the diary – our trade tasting on September 5 in London. Click for more details: https://winegb.co.uk/events/winegb-trade-and-press-tasting/.
- To find out more about English Wine Week click here.
