Tell us about your plans for a new spotlight on English wine at London Wine Fair?
The London Wine Fair feels like the right place to showcase what is happening in English wine. We make wine for over 50 different vineyards and producers, making a range of different products and this is a great opportunity for these producers to engage with the trade – some of them for the first time.
Why did you want to do a pop up more generic style tasting than have your own stand?
Defined Wine's Henry Sugden wants to give the English producers it works with the chance to find wider distribution at the London Wine Fair
We want the producers there because they are the best ones to tell their story. However as most of them are small, they only want to be there for one day
What do you hope the dedicated pop up tasting can achieve?
For the producers, given the wide audience that LWF attracts, I hope it can lead to accounts that match their scale which can vary in size from producing around 200k bottles per year to 2,000. More broadly, I hope that it will help people understand how much good quality English still wine is now being produced. Last year, for example, we made more still wine than sparkling wine.
How are you going to choose which producers take part in the tasting?
We will focus on those who are looking for distribution.
Will they all need to be customers of Defined Wine?
The priority for the pop-up is those we make wine for. But we are encouraging other English wine producers to come along to the fair and helping the organisers to get some interesting English wine masterclasses and panel discussions.
How are you funding the pop up tasting?
We have our own marketing budget and will also spread the cost between those taking part.
For those that don’t know Defined Wine can you explain what you do?
Defined Wine is a contract winery that works with a wide range of English wine producers to make bespoke wines for them
We are a contract winery. So we primarily make wine for vineyards who do not have their own winery, providing a ‘crate to case’ service from grapes to finished still or sparkling wine. We also make wine for brands or own label.
The idea is that people define the style of wine they want, hence the name ‘Defined Wine’ and then we make quality wine consistently.
You are working with grapes from all over the country - which areas do you see as being on the rise in terms of quality?
Last year there were certainly some broad geographical trends for areas that were cooler and wetter but there are some fantastic micro climates all over the country. It is not just about the region though, it is also about the viticulture and we do see huge variations in how vineyards are managed.
Where do you think will be the next big areas for grape growing?
We have two wineries – one in Kent and one in East Anglia, which tells you everything.
You are clearly well placed to know what is happening with English wine - what do you see as its current main strengths based on the producers you are working with and wines you are making?
Henry Sugden believes Defined Wine is well placed to be able to bring English wine producers together from across the country
I think its strengths are the diversity of producers and wines. And that it delivers the growing demand for localisation and environmental sustainability. The wines we handle have come 12 miles, or at most 120 miles, not 12,000; lower ABV wines; and experiences - it is easy to visit the cellar door.
What are its biggest challenges?
Partly price, given the cost of anything in the UK; economies of scale, which many don’t yet have; and the lower yields and higher inputs associated with cool and maritime climate viticulture.
Partly also the reputation of English wine from the past and reluctance of people to realise there has been a paradigm shift in terms of quality. But fundamentally that most producers are new, so don’t yet have distribution, or an idea or how this works, or the time yet to have built their brand.
This is why we believe exhibiting at LWF is so important.
How do you think Defined Wine can help producers meet those challenges and maximise the opportunities?
Firstly by consistently making quality wine. And secondly by using our position to help our producers make the connections that will enable them to sell their wine.
Any key new projects you are working on?
We have been making more pét nats and orange wines but overall I think the winemaking team - we have five winemakers - really enjoy seeing the range of grapes and styles of wine we are asked to make, from wines made for international companies to small family owned operations; from classic Champagne varieties to new PiWis. Looking ahead, we are keen to support more white label projects.
- You can find out more about Defined Wine at its website here.
- To contact Henry Sugden about the opportunity to join Defined Wine’s pop up stand at London Wine Fair email him on henry@definedwine.com.
