This year’s Vineyard & Winery Show, being held on 22 November 2023 at The Kent Showground, Detling, will have even more space to showcase the very best English and Welsh wines. 

Due to overwhelming demand from growers, wine makers and wine writers, extra space has been generated by revamping the hall known as ‘The John Hendry Pavillion’ to incorporate a second WineHub showcasing 50 sparkling wines. “This extra space has been made possible by working with local marquee company Brooks Marquees to bolt on a 24m hall for the seminars, giving the seminar area its own bespoke space and creating more space for the wines,” commented Jamie McGrorty, Publisher of Vineyard Magazine whose team are responsible for organising the show. 

“The seminars, which are once again sponsored by Ferovinum, will benefit from having their own area, a bespoke marquee bolted onto the side of one of the show halls, ensuring that delegates can concentrate fully on speakers without outside interference from visitors or exhibitors walking past, as well as creating even more space for growers and producers to taste the UK’s top 100 wines” added Jamie. The Top 100 wines are chosen by Matthew Jukes and WineGB with particular interest taken to provide a complete cross section of winemaking style, price point and grape variety. The final selection process is taking place later this year. 

 In continuing with The Vineyard & Winery show’s rapid growth, the ever popular Matthew Jukes master class has also been moved to its own devoted room within the showground, and will now take place in the Astor Pavillion which overlooks the Kent Show Ground. “The Astor is perfect to host Matthew’s Master Class” said Jamie. “It’s a lovely bright room, with big windows looking out over the showground and will be perfect for Matthew to muse about six UK wines that he feels warrant acclaim”. Matthew’s master class has been sold out two years running so be sure to book your tickets early, with details on how to do so being announced in the next edition. Money from ticket sales to Matthew Jukes Masterclass is donated to The Drinks Trust, a charity chosen by Matthew with over £1,000 raised in 2022.

The land on which The Vineyard & Winery Show is based was donated many years ago by farmers, who were keen for the site to bring the agricultural community and buyers together in one place. “It is very fitting that the Vineyard & Winery Show continues to be held at the Kent Showground because the aim of the Vineyard & Winery Show is to bring the whole viticultural community together under one roof,” added Jamie. 

“For many years the committee at the Showground have done an excellent job of showcasing the very best of farming. The 100th Kent County Agricultural show will be held in July this year signifying a major milestone. For a whole century the event has continued to bring joy alongside education despite many trials including wars, foot and mouth disease and more recently Covid-19. I hope the viticultural industry can follow in their footsteps for many years to come,” concluded Jamie. 

For 2023, The Vineyard & Winery Show is sponsored by Berlin Packaging, NFU Mutual, Vitifruit, Core Equipment, Hutchinsons and Royston Labels.