Five years on from its launch as a new exhibition aimed at supporting the growth of English and Welsh wines, the 2025 Vineyard & Winery Show is set to build on its credentials as a showcase for great wine, highly skilled winemakers and top-notch manufacturers, equipment suppliers, agronomists and technical experts.
As the domestic wine industry continues its impressive upward trajectory, the Vineyard & Winery Show has become as much celebration as sales pitch, a chance for growers and winemakers to show off their own creations, sample those from other vineyards, swap notes, check out the latest kit and catch their breath at the end of a busy harvest.
This year’s event on 19 November at the Kent County Showground, promises to be better than ever, with 110 exhibitors once again filling both the showground’s exhibition halls with some of the best English and Welsh wines available alongside the equipment needed to produce it as well as a comprehensive range of other specialist services.
The show is now firmly established as the go-to exhibition for anyone with an interest in making wines, from larger vineyards looking for the newest technology to boost their productivity still further to newcomers with a handful of hectares and a wine-making itch they need to scratch.
Its impressive pedigree means the big players make sure they are well represented at what has become the leading event of its kind, giving visitors unparalleled access to machinery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, investment experts, agronomists and advisers of all kinds.
Over the past four years the number of visitors attending the show has regularly topped 2,000, reflecting the fact that there are now around 1,100 vineyards across England and Wales. Given this year’s sunshine, growers were expecting a bumper harvest that would deliver superb wine-making potential (one grower has been heard talking about a 14% vintage), setting the scene for a busy, high-octane and positive 2025 show.
Such is the demand from exhibitors keen to attend this year’s show that the waiting list of companies hoping to grab some last-minute space if anyone is forced to pull out has now reached double figures.
With Core Equipment, Hutchinsons, Vitifruit, Autajon Labels Royston, EGI and NFU Mutual all main sponsors, the show’s calibre is clear, while the spread of exhibitors covers all aspects of viticulture, from chemicals to corks and from soil analysis to self-adhesive labels. Alongside the machinery and products, visitors can chat to a range of professionals, from financial experts to agronomists and insurers.
A central feature of the Vineyard & Winery Show has always been the wine hubs which offer visitors the chance to taste some of the best English and Wesh wines on offer, a treat that simply can’t be turned down. There will, of course, be a full range of other refreshments on offer, with plenty of opportunities to catch up with friends or colleagues over a coffee rather than a cuvée.
This year’s event will again have two wine hubs offering a stunning 86 excellent wines from across England and Wales, all vying for the attention of professional winemakers, dedicated growers and mere enthusiasts.
And when it comes to the wines on offer, quality is guaranteed. The wine hub in the Maidstone Exhibition Hall will feature this year’s Golden 50, wines that have won either gold or platinum medals across 10 national and international competitions and including Langham Wine Estates’ Perpetual MV, the first wine ever to be awarded 99 points by WineGB.
Visitors will no doubt be hoping to hear the story behind that impressive vintage when Langham’s head winemaker Tommy Grimshaw delivers his presentation at the first of a wide range of carefully selected seminars taking place throughout the day. Other seminars will cover the launch of Wine GB’s technology group, regenerative viticulture, and managing frost risk in vineyards, with question-and-answer sessions following each of the morning’s topics.
Meanwhile in the second wine hub, this one in the John Henry Pavilion, the 36 wines on offer will be those that have been selected by top wine writer Matthew Jukes and featured in Vineyard magazine throughout 2025 at the rate of three per month.
Matthew will once again be providing one of the undoubted highlights of the show when he presents his masterclass, giving his unique insights into six of the wines he has selected for Vineyard during the year with his own mix of laid-back humour and in-depth knowledge.
This year’s selection is set to include three red wines, highlighting the extent to which English and Welsh growers and winemakers are successfully pushing back the boundaries. Both wine hubs are sponsored this year by Defined Wine Ltd.
This year’s technical masterclass promises to be equally fascinating and will be led by Matthias Schmitt of Hochschule Geisenheim University, who will be talking about the dealcoholisation of sparkling wine. This event, which will offer insights into one of the fastest-growing areas of the wine industry, will include a rare opportunity to taste wines in various stages of the dealcoholisation process.
With the masterclasses, the wine tastings and the seminars bound to produce food (or drink) for thought and the wide range of exhibitors highlighting all that’s new in the world of viticulture, the 2025 Vineyard & Winery Show looks set to celebrate its fifth birthday in fine style. Cheers!
