Like a fine wine, the Vineyard & Winery Show has developed and matured over the years – and after four years in the cellar, the 2024 event on
20 November promises to be something really special.

Unveiled by Vineyard magazine in 2021, this celebration of UK vineyards, growers, winemakers and wines has grown year on year, with more stands, more features, more opportunities to do business and, of course, plenty of great wines to sample.

Organisers this year took the brave decision to add a third hall to the show, held at the Kent Event Centre in Maidstone, and were rewarded by an impressive uptake from exhibitors, with the result that visitors will be able to chat to representatives from around 130 different companies at this year’s event.

From viticulturists to label designers and from machinery dealers to specialist equipment manufacturers, the Vineyard and Winery Show will bring together a huge range of suppliers, advisers and potential collaborators.

“We increasingly hear from people who have done real business at the show,” commented Vineyard publisher and show director Jamie McGrorty. “They chat to like-minded people, discuss ways of working together, come up with plans and do deals, all in the friendly and supportive atmosphere the show generates.

“We are also expecting a number of product launches again this year, and the wide range of exhibitors, seminars and professional help on offer under one roof makes this year’s show the place to be for anyone connected with this industry.”

At the heart of the show, of course, is the wine, and there’s no shortage of that as the UK continues to produce wines that rival the best in the world, particularly when it comes to the sparkling variety.

This year’s innovations include a new approach to the ‘wine hubs’ that have proved so popular in past years by giving visitors a chance to sample some of the best vintages produced in the country.

For 2024, the hubs have been separated into three distinct areas, providing more focused opportunities to sample wines of a similar type. There will be a hub featuring WineGB’s Golden 50 wines, another featuring world renowned wine writer Matthew Jukes’ favourite 36 wines from the past year, as featured in Vineyard, and another featuring more than 25 Piwi wines.

“Modern Piwi varietals, with their increased disease resistance, are becoming more and more popular with growers and will be given a more prominent role at this year’s Vineyard & Winery Show,” said Jamie. “Last year’s Piwi wines were predominantly grown and bottled overseas, but this year’s selection is of UK-grown wines, so our visitors will know how they perform in our climate and soils.”

Pattingham Vineyard’s Norton Brook 2022 highlights the rise of Piwi wines, with its 85% Solaris and 15% Siegerrebe blend good enough to have earned it a gold medal in this year’s WineGB awards and a place in the show’s Golden 50 hub.

WineGB’s ‘Golden 50’ wines have been selected from 123 UK wines that have won Gold medals across competitions during 2024,  including: Decanter World Wine Awards, IWSC, The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships, Sommelier Wine Awards, London Wine Competition, Sommeliers Choice Awards, Wine GB Awards and the Welsh Wine Awards.

Exhibitors, which will include professionals such as lawyers and accountants as well as big-name machinery dealers, packaging experts and winery suppliers, will fill the John Hendry and Maidstone halls at the event centre along with a temporary – but solid – additional hall built specifically for the event.

“We have been overwhelmed by the response from exhibitors, some of whom will be at the show for the first time having realised what a great opportunity it is to meet growers and other potential customers,” said Jamie. “With things getting busy, we decided to add temporary extra space and were delighted when that was quickly snapped up, too. Rest assured that while temporary, it will be warm, dry and well-lit!”

The 3.15pm wine tasting of Piwi varieties will be curated by Defined Wine and sponsored by Kent-based branding agency Oak Creative. It will be held in the tasting marquee.

With Piwi wines very much to the fore, Italian nursery Vivai will be at the show displaying some of the wines they have produced from bespoke vines grown ‘to order’ based on the terroir and climate specified by the grower and the disease resistance required. After creating the specific vine, Vivai produces a small batch of wine that the grower can taste before buying and planting the vines.

Other first-time exhibitors that will add to the buzz around this year’s show include Chichester Farm Machinery, which offers an impressive range of tractors, mowers and ground care equipment, and Willis European, which has more than 50 years’ experience in supplying brewing, bottling and process equipment.

Kreston Reeves will be hosting a seminar breakfast at 8.30am, while the full day’s fascinating seminar programme will feature three talks and a keynote address by Patrick McGrath MW.

With four decades of experience in the wine trade, Patrick passed his Master of Wine examination in 1993 and became managing director of wine distributor Hatch Mansfield a year later. He is also the co-founder of Champagne Taittinger’s English estate, Domaine Evremond.

The seminar programme, sponsored by Ferovinum, will continue with the launch of WineGB’s three-year strategy and a presentation of the organisation’s work-plan by chief executive officer Nicola Bates.

A panel discussion entitled Future Climate Impact on Vineyards: Insights and Updates will be led by Professor Steve Dorling of Weatherquest and Dr. Alistair Nesbitt of Vinescapes, who will deliver an update on climate predictions and the impact on viticulture.

Communications manager Phoebe French will then talk about the Innovate UK-funded frost project, which began earlier this year, with a representative from Plumpton College providing an update on its work focusing on different grape varieties and frost tolerance.

The final session of the day will focus on sales, specifically the importance of restaurant sales.

The ever-popular Matthew Jukes’ wine-tasting masterclass at 1pm will be sponsored by Gullands, while Orchard Cooling and OnePay are jointly sponsoring free coffee for visitors throughout the day. Refreshments will also be available throughout the event, which begins at 9am and closes at 5pm.

Headline sponsors of the event are Core Equipment, Hutchinson’s, Vitifruit, Autajon, NFU Mutual and VineWorks, while Rankin is again providing the popular visitor bags and Agrii is sponsoring the tasting glasses.

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