Michael Huskins owns and manages Dalwood Vineyard in Devon as part of a co-operative. He talks to Vineyard Magazine about learning on the job and working with your friends.

The wet weather failed to dampen sprits at the UK’s second annual vine pruning competition, which was held on 28 February 2020 at Tinwood Estate in Halnaker, West Sussex. 

Pruning season progresses.

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Kieron Atkinson at Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire, talks to Vineyard magazine about managing the northern walled vineyard.

2019: A year of viticultural progress.

It’s a relief to know I haven’t been barking up the wrong tree.

Adam Lyness, sales manager at Hadley Group, discusses the importance of choosing the right materials for your vineyard that will best support planting and growing, as well as the benefits of using steel vineposts.

As the UK viticulture sector has matured through the last decade we have seen a parallel shift in the requirements and aspirations of our clients who are looking to build new, or expand existing, wine production facilities. Until recently UK wineries generally consisted of simple farm shed conversions or agricultural barns. 

A scout’s tale.

The role of a vineyard technical scout is essentially to spot any disease as early as possible so action can be taken to avoid its proliferation. However, as every vineyard site is different so are the requirements of every vineyard owner. 

The growth of UK viticulture has been rapid in the past decade. But a large percentage of the new producers don’t come from a traditional farming background, many are from IT or the financial sector. Consequently these new entrants to wine production don’t have the skillset for the day to day tasks in the vineyard. Also, many of these new ventures are large scale commercial acreage (it’s pretty unlikely that any MD’s are going to be out pruning). So vineyard teams are essential to ensure viticultural tasks are completed to a professional standard. In addition, there is also a continuing lack of skilled and experienced domestic workers to keep pace with the increasing acreage of vineyards. Continue reading “The vine post” →