Vines, Wines, Research Projects & Awards: A Busy 2024
It was without doubt a challenging year for wine growers in the UK and across a number of European wine regions. The WineGB Harvest Yield Survey data for 2024, released on 18 December 2024 indicated the lowest grape yield in the UK since 2018, despite the accelerated growth of hectares under vine in the UK over the past 10 years.
The impact of climate change and increasing variability in weather conditions became a reality for the industry in 2024. Nevertheless, it was still a highly successful year with the growth of UK wine sales increasing by more than 10%.
The quality of wine is becoming more and more impressive, and the UK is now home to some exceptional vineyards, wine brands and experiences, all achieving greater international recognition and respect.
It has been a big year and as we focus on the year in review it has been rewarding to reflect on the achievements of our clients and the team at Vinescapes. We contributed to a number of research projects, participated in fun events, featured in the media, won awards and welcomed new team members – making 2024 a successful and eventful year.
January 2024
Pruning, pruning and more pruning – the winter means a lot of time out in the weather guiding or actively trimming vines into shape alongside our clients to ensure they are in the best health and condition for the growing season.
February 2024
February was award season for the team at Vinescapes. Viticulturist Rob Poyser won WineGB’s Rising Star of the Year for Viticulture (Sustainability). Dr Alistair Nesbitt also picked up the University of East Anglia Impact and Innovation Award alongside colleague Professor Steve Dorling for their project assessing the Weather and Climate Risks and Opportunities for the UK Wine Sector.
March 2024
The Vineyard Frost Project got underway in the first quarter of the year. Vinescapes joined partners from WeatherQuest, WineGB, JoJo’s Vineyard and Innovate UK to start scoping the requirements and technology to build a frost detection and protection system to reduce the harm caused by seasonal cold snaps which can kill off vines, particularly young vines.
April 2024
We hosted the first of a series of workshops for industry members in April, focused firstly on soil health, followed by a vine health workshop in May.
Training and knowledge sharing is a valued service we provide at opportune times throughout the year, for which the viticulture team thoroughly enjoy doing. The goal is to help raise the quality and standard of productivity across all UK vineyards.
May 2024
We had a busy spring season of planting. The team worked across the South-East, north to Norfolk and Essex and down to the South-West to establish carefully-selected sites with pinot meunier, pinot noir, chardonnay, bacchus, solaris and other hybrid varieties suited to the soil, topography, micro-climate conditions and landscapes. We are careful to ensure we plant the right variety in the right location so we are very excited to taste the fruit from the vines we planted in future harvest years.
June 2024
Groundswell has become an essential event for any landowner, farmer or business engaged in sustainable food and drink production. We had a tremendous show and we were excited to publicly introduce our first Regeneration Chardonnay wine.
It was also a thrill to see some of our fabulous clients do so well at the WineGB Wine Awards.
July 2024
We did a lot of work this year supporting clients to adopt or adapt to regenerative viticulture practices. We’ve begun to see some great results in soil health, vine health and biodiversity across vineyard sites where cover crops, composting, mulching and water management has become a focus.
August 2024
We attended the first Sustainability in Drinks event in London alongside the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation (RVF). Vinescapes’ CEO Dr Alistair Nesbitt is a founding member of the RVF and we work closely with them to promote the benefits of regenerative viticulture. At the Sustainability in Drinks event we discovered many other drinks businesses focused on reducing their impact or improving the health of the planet.
September 2024
The rain didn’t let up in September. The Met Office said it was the coolest summer since 2015 and ten English counties had the wettest September on record. Climate change is breaking down regular patterns and bringing unpredictable conditions. September had the team working tremendously hard with clients to protect the fruit from mildew and disease.
October 2024
Harvest officially started for the team in on 3 October. It was a late but compressed vintage. Yields were low but where the right regime was followed, the fruit in a number of vineyards looked and tasted superb. Sarah was busy in the vineyard and winery helping clients to process their fruit and shape the structure of their wines.
November 2024
November came around quickly with such a late vintage. There was no time to rest with The Vineyard & Winery Show on the 20 November. It’s a highlight of the year and we loved every minute again this year. This month we were also very focused on delivering the results of a long term cover crop research and trial project we have worked alongside a number of research partners. We also released a number of package solutions for clients across business, marketing, regenerative viticulture and vineyard consulting.
December 2024
We officially welcomed experienced and well-regarded viticulturist Cameron Roucher to the Vinescapes team in December. This capped off a big year of Vinescapes growth and change. Our Marketing Manager, Kerrie Lyons joined the team in September, we sadly said farewell to our Operations Manager, Sally Wright who has taken up a role at Plumpton College in November, and Joel Jorgensen now takes up the important Operations Manager role. He will now be managing the wine and viticulture team across our field and consulting work. Finally, our graduate trainee, Sarah Stott completed the two year program and joined the team as a full-time vineyard technician and wine consultant. A great way to finish an eventful and busy year!