Wine Growing in Great Britain is for anyone contemplating planting and establishing a vineyard, and for those already growing vines on a small scale who perhaps wish to expand their vineyards and improve their winegrowing skills, this book will be invaluable. It will also be of interest to students of viticulture. Published in 2020, the 2nd Edition has been updated and expanded to cover new developments.
Wine Growing in Great Britain covers not only the viticultural tasks involved, but also, uniquely, covers the financial aspects of UK wine growing: the costs of land, vineyard establishment and management, and the income from both grape sales and wine sales.
Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to winegrowing in Great Britain, looking at the changes that have taken place over the last sixty years. Chapter 2 starts with the financial viability of a winegrowing enterprise, giving the likely costs of: buying suitable land, establishing a vineyard, managing that vineyard and the costs of making both still and sparkling wines. It then covers the possible income from the vineyard, covering the value of the grapes and the likely income from wine sales. Chapter 3 looks at the question of site selection, giving guidance on where the best places to plant a vineyard are and the reasons why site selection is the most important decision in the whole process. Chapter 4 covers the all-important aspect of varietal choice with full descriptions of thirty varieties - all those currently being grown in Great Britain in excess of 1.50-ha - together with a section on new vine varieties, clones of Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Meunier for sparkling wine and rootstocks suitable for Great Britain. Chapters 5-10 cover pruning and trellising systems, the planning and preparation of the site, vineyard nutrition, planting techniques, trellising systems, and the machinery and equipment required to manage a vineyard successfully. Chapters 11-16 cover the management of the vineyard from planting through to full cropping, frost protection, weed control, protected vinegrowing, and pest and disease control. Chapter 17 is devoted to the important topic of Trunk Diseases and Chapter 18 to Organic and biodynamic viticulture. Finally, Chapter 19 is on 'Getting started'. There then follow eight appendices:
- Useful addresses
- Vineyard pre-planting check list
- Vineyard running costs
- Vineyard machinery costs
- The Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme
- The story of Wrotham Pinot
- The complete history of sparkling wine production in Great Britain - so far
- Jack Ward, Horam Manor and the Merrydown Wine Company
