Thinking of planting a vineyard? 6 ways WineGB’s 2026 New Entrants Guide can help
The world of English, Welsh – and now Scottish wine too – is one of the most exciting and fast-growing sectors in UK agriculture.
Starting your own vineyard, making wine and developing your brand can appear so appealing for so many different reasons.
However, establishing a vineyard or winery requires, not just enthusiasm, but also sound technological knowledge, financial foresight and a deep respect for the land and its cycles.
The New Entrants Guide: Making a success in UK viticulture and wine production, is the latest document from WineGB designed to give guidance and clarity to members embarking on their wine journey.
“Making wine is an expensive business, becoming more so with increases in taxes, labour, equipment and bottling costs,” says WineGB CEO Nicola. “We want to ensure that members enter the sector with their eyes open as it can be as hard as it is rewarding.”
If you’re looking to enter the industry, here are just six of the many ways The updated New Entrants Guide, sponsored by NFU Mutual, could help you:
1. On the go, 24/7 digital-friendly guidance & data
Featuring helpful links to access core data and statistics, as well as key WineGB website pages and external assistance, the digital New Entrants Guide can be accessed, anywhere and at any time.
From Business Planning to Regulation, Winemaking to Routes to Market, it’s easy to pull up the guidance you need for whatever area of the business you might be looking to research.
2.Determine whether your vineyard venture is viable
Explore the various business models to discover which is best suited to you and how you might build a business plan around your chosen option/s.
From Single Estate to Contract Winemaking and Negociant, the New Entrants Guide, outlines the advantages and disadvantages of various models, as well as key considerations for scale of production and anticipated product range.
There’s also tips on preparing financial forecasts and returns and estimating target income.
3. Viticulture & winemaking basics to get you started
From selecting the right site, vines to plant and how to plant them to vine training methods, vineyard equipment and management, the New Entrants Guide offers insight to the plethora of decisions that need to be made in the vineyard, as well as the different ways to make wine, and what you need to consider if you choose to build your own winery.
4.Facts to help you meet compliance
While UK wine regulation might not seem as complex as wine regions in other parts of the world, there is a lot of compliance to get your head around.
From planning permission, Wine Standards Regulation and hygiene & safety standards when it comes to making wine, to rules around labelling, promotion and selling once you bring your wines to market, the New Entrants Guide offers a comprehensive overview of the codes you must abide by.
5. Insight to education
Being well trained and informed from the outset is critical to your future success and there are a whole host of educational opportunities to take advantage of.
The New Entrants Guide provides an insight to the myriad resources available, from apprenticeships and short courses to higher education study, WSET, conferences and WineGB’s own webinars.There’s also a comprehensive list of reading material relevant to various aspects of the winemaking business.
6.Road map to market:
Perhaps most important for anyone hoping to make a success of a business in UK wine and it is never too soon to plan how your product is going to be sold.
Effort in the vineyard and winery can be wasted if adequate focus is not placed on sales and marketing. The New Entrants Guide outlines key factors to consider in this area, such as creating a brand and nailing its story, to wine tourism and export.
These areas are just some of the ways in which the New Entrants Guide can help newcomers to the world of UK wine, but the 104-page document is a comprehensive guide to all you need to know before you take the plunge.
The New Entrants Guide is only accessible to eligible WineGB members and is just one of many benefits that comes with grower and producer membership. To discover more reasons to join, read our blog: 26 Reasons to join WineGB in 2026.
You can join WineGB as an individual even if you aren’t yet growing or making wine, or you are simply passionate about the sector and want to be a part of this growing community. Visit our Join Us page to find out more.