Stephen Skelton MW

Viticultural & Winemaking Consultant

S. P. Skelton Ltd.,

1B Lettice Street, London, SW6 4EH.

Telephone: 07768 583700 E-mail:

VAT Registration No: 122 6809 25

Vineyard land – what to look for

  • Note: See Chapter 3: Site Selection in Wine Growing in Great Britain for a fuller examination of site requirements for UK vineyards.
  • Location
  • The majority of good vineyards in the UK are situated in regions well known for their top fruit (apples and pears) and hops, the reason being that the requirements for vines are very similar. The ideal land is as warm as possible for the growing season from April to October and is therefore land below 125 m above sea level, south facing and sheltered from prevailing winds which are typically from the south-west. I have known land that runs up to 150 m, but this would need to be sheltered by higher ground to the north and east and also by higher land to the west/south-west that gave it shelter. The very best vineyard sites in the UK are probably no more than 60-80 m above sea level. What you do not want is land on the topof a hill from which you can see for miles!
  • Shelter-belts and windbreaks are often needed for additional protection so if they are naturally there already, so much the better.
  • Land that slopes to the south is always preferred, although to the south-east or south-west is also OK. I have known vineyards on north facing slopes and they can be sheltered, but ripening will always be later, and therefore in cooler conditions, than south facing sites. Very steep slopes can be coped with, but bring additional problems and costs.
  • Spring frost can be an issue (as with many fruit crops) and therefore land where frost can collect should be avoided. Frost protection is possible, but expensive.
  • With vineyards, roadside access is often required as many winegrowers will want to have visitors and sell wine from the site. They may also want to build wineries (no planning permission required for wineries) and accommodation is also often required. Remember that you may not want a winery or roadside sales, but a vineyard is a long-term investment and one day, you may wish to sell to someone who does want a winery, shop and tourist business.
  • Footpaths are always a potential nuisance and best avoided, that is unless the footpath runs in line with the best direction for planting. Footpaths can sometimes be re-routed although never quick and always problematical.
  • Land with pylons and telegraph poles is best avoided (although it is amazing how much land is crossed by these) but only because the birds love sitting in them and launching attacks on the grapes. However, if you wish to farm biodynamically, HT lines must be avoided.
  • Land near to woodland which supports deer will require deer fencing which adds to the costs.
  • Soil
  • Vines will grow on a wide range of soils (pH 5.5-8.5) and with the right treatments, pretty well any soil can be made to support vines. All vines are grown on rootstocks, and these can be tailored to cope with almost any type of soil.
  • Soils with high clay content will often require good drainage systems to be installed which obviously raises the costs of establishment, but better drain before planting, than regret if afterwards.
  • The easiest types of soil to grow vines on are free-draining light, loamy soils with pH around 6.5. In recent years, chalky soils have been sought, mainly because growers want their soils to be as Champagne-like as possible. The problem with these is that they tend to be elevated, quite exposed to prevailing winds and with their high pH levels, require specialist rootstocks to counter chlorosis. Growers in Champagne prefer chalk for their Chardonnay as chalk provides moisture, even in very dry years, thus keeping vines in leaf and preserving acidity. Preservation of acidity is not something we normally have a problem with in the UK.
  • Light soils with a high stone content are good, as they tend to hold on to the heat and make ripening easier.
  • I would much prefer to have the right location, altitude and aspect, and then deal with a troublesome soil by draining it, liming it, growing cover crops or whatever, to bring it up to scratch.
  • Costs
  • Establishment costs will vary quite a bit. Land that requires no draining and deer fencing will be cheaper to establish than land that requires both. Rabbit fencing will almost always be required and costs will depend very much on how big the parcel of land is and who does the work: the owner, farm staff in the winter, or contractors.
  • Costs of preparing, planting, trellising and looking after vines for the first two years will depend upon vine variety and rootstock, plant density, type of trellising chosen and whether work is done with staff on the payroll or contractors. Very ballpark figures are £10,000 per acre. John Nix’s Farm Management Pocketbook has a ‘vineyards’ section (which I write) with quite a lot of data on costs and income. This is available as a separate document [LINK]
  • Running costs will vary according to row width, vine density and whether work is done with staff or contractors. I would allow at least £2,500/acre, plus picking costs for a reasonably sized vineyard, more for a small vineyard (below 2-ha or 5-acres.)
  • Yields
  • Yields are the great unknown in viticulture and often turn out to be less than anticipated. 3-4 tonnes per acre in vineyards that establish well and are looked after well ought to be achievable with most mainstream varieties. Most vineyards will have a 30-40% crop in year 3, with a 90% crop in year 4 and 100% crop in year 5+. Yields will vary according to the flowering and ripening conditions and have to be considered over a 10 year average. The UK average figure, taking good and bad, young and old vineyards into account, is only around 1¼ tonnes/acre.
  • Grape prices
  • Prices over recent years have been quite buoyant, partially fuelled by Chapel Down and RidgeView who have been persuading growers to plant up and supply them with grapes. With premium varieties, £1,500-£2,000 per tonne delivered to the winery has been achieved, with prices rising to £3,500-£4,000 in short years. (If you think this high, just remember that Champagne growers get around £4,500-£5,000 per tonne.) Less sought after varieties will sell for less, although when made into wine and sold that way may still fetch good prices.
  • Wine prices
  • Wine prices have held up over recent years, despite more vineyards coming into full production. However, the planted area has doubled since 2004 and with sparkling wine taking typically 7-8 years to come to the market, the full impact upon the wine market of these new plantings hasn’t yet been fully felt. The question of whether greater supplies will depress prices (classic economic theory) or whether greater availability will stimulate demand (also classic economic theory) is open to question and only time will tell.
  • General outlook
  • There is always a lot of hype in the wine market, and UK wines have recently been receiving a lot of interest, much of it fuelled by those in the business in order to stimulate sales. In itself this is no bad thing and this is how the wine market works. Whether this will result in lasting sales is anther matter. One thing that is clear however is that the quality of English wines, sparkling mainly, but a few still wines also, is higher than it has ever been and this is a genuine sea-change which the wine trade has noted and absorbed. This means that retailers, hoteliers and restaurateurs have much more confidence in stocking UK-grown wines and introducing them to the public.

© Stephen Skelton MW

2015