Off the back of spending a few days helping out at this year’s harvest with the team at Ambriel Sparkling in West Sussex, England, rather than telling you what most already know – ie, 2025 is going to be a great vintage for much of England, (clean fruit, amazing quality over decent quantity), this is now my fourth harvest – between UK and Australia – so here’s my round up of why this is my favourite time of year. 

Firstly, working a harvest emboldens respect for grape producers and winemakers – viticulture and viniculture is tough, notwithstanding the fact that Mother Nature is the boss and can be a bitch sometimes, especially in the cool, wet climate of England.

Soaked and sticky, muddy bottomed and ruddy faced, but loving every minute, here are a few things I have learned from working the harvest: 

• It takes a village to bring a harvest in, or two depending on the size of the vineyard – you’ll meet people from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe
• Wear suitable clothes and boots – as stylish as the surroundings are, a vineyard during harvest is far from a catwalk, and wearing white is just asking for trouble
• You’ve got to be fit – the days are long; you are on your feet most of the time, and a crate of grapes is heavier than it looks
• You cannot be a fair-weather harvester – this is England after all
• You’ve got to love monotony – it’s a production line of picking, collecting, weighing, pressing, cleaning and more cleaning, on repeat, all day, everyday
• You’ve got to have a sense of humour – something inevitably changes or brings up a challenge every day, if it’s not the weather, it’s something else
• You don’t need to know about different clones, or Brix or Oechsle
• Winemakers love to talk about the above, so it does help to know just a bit or at least ask them to explain (they love doing that too)
• Against common perceptions, most vineyards do not serve alcohol during harvest – health and safety comes first
• You will catch yourself staring off into the distance most of the time – vineyards are the most beautiful places on earth after all
• There’s nothing quite like the sound of chatter in a vineyard during harvest – gossip is best served through the grapevine it seems
• Don’t try to keep up with the pros when picking – my nickname of ‘snip and snap’ has led me to winning the wooden spoon for speed (or lack of) every time
• If you snip a finger, get it looked at – grape juice can act as an anticoagulant
• You need to be at one with insects – spiders, ladybirds and wasps are regular visitors to an English vineyard
• You will be knackered at the end of the day – prep the bath, have a hot meal and chill
• Post harvest gatherings are like no other – you’ve achieved a lot with this team and you can finally have a glass of wine, and reminisce the harvest that was and anticipate the wines to come   

 

I think it’s fair to say that 2025 will show as an excellent vintage for quality English wines, thanks to Mother Nature being a little more kind to us than in 2024 and due to the inspiring, experimental, passionate grape growers and wine producers we have today across the UK.

Southward bound, my next harvest will be in early 2026 in Orange, NSW, Australia.

Cheers!