Having worked as a guide in a Norfolk vineyard for about 6 years I read Henry Jeffrey’s article with considerable interest and some experience of the topic about which he has written.
I was not the proprietor but despite having done several hundred tours it was only an issue for one tourist who was expecting the owner to do the tour.
If you explain viticulture and winemaking in a clear an interesting way tourists will listen. Most of them want to learn.
Oh and don’t go in autumn after the harvest. The vines are exhausted and are closing down. The best tours are those that take place when the grapes are ripe and there is plenty of action, grapes to try, pickers, full presses, tank samples to taste, then the wine.
Most of the rest of the year is static.
Most vineyards need to offer hospitality. I agree it is a tough ask but chatting to clients over lunch means you can give tourists much more attention. They like that. You don’t need to offer Michelin starred stuff, a good salad with meat or fish or a veggie option keeps them happy.
The English wine production is a financial black hole. The only way to make money is to sell directly to the customer. Trade prices are wretched. But we are all out in the middle of nowhere selling a premium priced product.
Planning is a nightmare. Planting a vineyard is easy because it is classed as agricultural, once you get into building a winery with a tasting room and shop your problems start. Just ask Mark Dixon of Kentish vineyards or Chapel Down. Applying for Planning to put on events is even worse.
My fear is that some of the production industry is creaking at the seams. Nyetimber’s latest P&L and balance sheet is a disaster. We are trying to do far too much too quickly. All this still wine needs to be forgotten. We should stick to trad method sparkling.
The one thing that this country does really well is talking itself up. When I read all this stuff in the press and social media about “beating the French” it’s ridiculous. We will never have a large production industry. Not enough land. And what there is will be used for building. And now the ubiquitous phrase of every wine producers website is “our award winning wines.” Every winemaker has an award. It has all become meaningless.
All the consumer does is moan about price. If I had been given a £ for every time I read that it is too expensive, I could go on a lavish holiday on the proceeds.
Andrew,
I absolutely concur with almost everything you have said.
I have been hosting tours, tastings and public engagement at Albury Vineyard for the last 5 years.
Prior to that I was long haul cabin crew with British Airways, giving me the opportunity to tour the winelands of California, South Africa and Australia extensively. I have also travelled a lot of Europe’s wine regions, on leaving the airline for a job at a vineyard, my priority was to bring the hospitality I had experienced in the “New World” wine regions to England and to avoid some of the negative visitor experiences I had encountered in traditional European winelands, particularly France.
Our vineyard tours run from the 1st weekend in May to the last weekend in September, with indoor tastings from the start of March to Christmas.
In my experience visitors very much appreciate a knowledgeable guide who really understands customer engagement, I know 5 other ex BA cabin crew doing the same in England. Dermot Sugrue as a vineyard vineyard owner/ wine maker is brilliant at public engagement, as he is a really charming person, however many others are either business people, farmers or winemakers, happiest in their respective roles, but not necessarily so keen on entertaining visitors.
I have hosted literally 1000’s of visitors over the last 5 years, from everywhere, including a surprising number of people from abroad, some dropping by on their way from Gatwick Airport to central London.
I have lost count of the number of times I have heard the phrase; “That was the best vineyard tour I have ever been on” from people that openly admit to having visited all the worlds main wine regions.
No one has ever commented negatively that I’m not the owner, indeed many assume I am until I explain that I’m not.
The best time to be in an English vineyard is from mid May when everything is starting to grow, flowering is a particularly beautiful time, vine blossom smells heavenly, as the season progresses, I find people are fascinated by seeing the vines up close.
The last few weeks as harvest approaches are both beautiful and offer opportunities for people to taste the grapes and I love demonstrating gently squeezing a bunch of ripe Pinot Noir grapes so people see the white juice coming out, followed by hints of purple, it really is a wow moment to demonstrate how “Blanc de Noirs” is made.
It is my absolute privilege to be an ambassador for our young industry, we have come a long way in a very short period of time, yes there are obstacles along the way, but that can also be said for all the rest of the worlds wine regions.