Sparkling vintage

Like a fine wine, the Vineyard & Winery Show continues to improve with age – and the 2025 variety continued that trend.

Boosted no doubt by what one commentator described as a “phenomenal” harvest, the show expertly blended its various ingredients to come up with a sparkling vintage that celebrated English and Welsh wines and those who create them.

The two exhibition halls were packed with visitors from shortly after the doors opened, while the stands themselves featured a wealth of shiny machinery, from an imposing grape harvester through the newest, narrowest utility task vehicle (UTV) to the latest cordless secateurs.

Alongside the machinery, there was plenty of advice on offer from a wide range or professionals, including, but not limited to, agronomists, accountants, insurers, solicitors, government agencies and licensing experts.

While the vineyard machinery was eye catching, there was considerable representation also from bottling and labelling companies and those promoting all the things wine needs once the grapes have been harvested, from additives and corks to marketing advice and specialist packaging.

One particularly impressive showcase was the Itasca Technical Services stand, which featured a Sraml bottling line, STS labelling machine and a hydraulic basket press and destemmer from Europress.

It clearly took a considerable amount of work to install such impressive kit in the Kent Event Centre’s Maidstone Exhibition Hall for a one-day show, but lead engineer Martin Smith said the effort had been worthwhile.

“We really like the Vineyard & Winery Show and we do it every year,” he commented. “It’s a great way to meet existing customers and perhaps pick up some new ones. “I think the footfall is up even on last year, which reflect this year’s good harvest.”

Martin said the early harvest had made life for the Itasca Technical Services team “challenging” as it shortened the installation window considerably. “Everything had to be ready for the end of August instead of October,” he pointed out.

Many other exhibitors had also gone to considerable efforts to create a real buzz around the exhibition halls, with Kirkland UK using the occasion to unveil the new Corvus DX4 800 and NP Seymour installing an ERO Grapeline 7000 grape harvester at the back of a stand that also showcased Fendt’s e107 Vario electric tractor.

There were tractors and tyres, forklifts, mowers and many more pieces of specialist equipment on display, all backed up by standholders keen to share their thoughts on why it was just right for the job.

Agronomists were out in force, with big players Hutchinsons and Agrii at opposite ends of the Maidstone Exhibition Hall, while construction companies, land agents, establishment specialists and contractors of all kinds were on hand to help newcomers to the industry as well as established growers and winemakers.

WineGB property partners Knight Frank shared the wine producer association’s stand, with Ed Mansel Lewis and Bertie Gilliat-Smith on hand to answer property or land queries from potential start-up businesses or established companies looking to expand. Both said they were impressed by show and by the buzz created by the impressive number of visitors.

Richard Taylor of RT Machinery summed up the show as a “really focused, one-day event where we can get in front of so many owners and specialists in the industry. There’s nowhere better suited geographically, and a lot of people attend.”

Royal Warrant holder RT Machinery supplies and services a wide range of ground care equipment and was showcasing an OREC mower with retractable cutting wings for inter-row work.

But while the show, organised by Vineyard magazine, is about catching up with friends, colleagues and customers and checking out the latest machinery, services and equipment on offer, it is also very much about celebrating English and Welsh wines, and that once again played a major part in the 2025 event.

Matthew Jukes’ masterclass entertained a capacity crowd (see the review on page 32), while Hochschule Geisenheim University scientist Matthias Schmitt offered a more technical presentation with his masterclass on the dealcoholisation of wine.

The well-received session included a tutored tasting of a number of dealcoholised wines that had been treated in a variety of ways to improve their palatability. With low and no alcohol wine one of the fastest-growing areas of the wine industry, Matthias’ presentation proved fascinating.

Meanwhile the two central wine hubs were busy all day, with visitors taking time out from visiting the stands and seminars to sample some of the best home-grown wine around. While one hub featured all 36 of Matthew Jukes’ wines from his 2025 columns in Vineyard magazine, the other featured the industry’s ‘Golden 50’, wines that won a gold or higher medal across ten national and international competitions in the past year.

Read our full review

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