Here's why a vineyard is teaming up with a university to produce wine growers of the future
The proprietors of a vineyard and estate near Stourbridge are aiming to encourage a new generation of talent for the future from across the region by teaming up with a leading Shropshire university.
The founder of Halfpenny Green Wine Estate at Bobbington Martin Vickers and his son Clive are looking to safeguard the English wine industry by developing a new generation of talent in viticulture – the cultivation and harvesting of grapes for wine.
He has helped plant a new vineyard at Harper Adams University in Newport which will see students enrolled on a course in which they could become the wine growers of the future.
Clive's daughter Imogen is in her third year of an Agrifood marketing and business course at the university. The four year honours degree focusses on serving consumers through the global food supply chain.
The Halfpenny Green Wine Estate has expanded since small beginnings in 1983 when Clive planted 400 vines on a tiny patch of land on the family farm. It now produces 650,000 bottles a year with 700 tonnes of grapes crushed to make the wine.
Next year the output is expected to rise to 900 tonnes with a target for the family business eventually of 1m bottles a year.
The estate produces 14 own-label products including seven whites, three red and rosés and four sparkling wines and comprises a restaurant, del and craft shop managed by Clive's wife Lisa, a craft village, restaurant and three acre zoo housing meercats, reptiles and birds of prey.
But Clive said he is keen to inspire the wine producers of the future by teaming up with Harper Adams, which is a leading college in equipping students to find creative, sustainable solutions to the economic and environmental challenges facing the planet now and in the future.
He said: "We planted the student vineyard at Harper Adams for a sense of legacy and a need to encourage the students and business people of the future.
“The only other venue offering viticulture courses is Plumpton College near Brighton. The industry desperately needed this facility, as do farm businesses who can diversify and become successful through wine making.
"Harper Adams is well placed for our region's students and has an unrivalled reputation for providing courses in agriculture, food and land management, farming and other environmental courses but with a business minded approach.
"We have big plans to expand the estate both from a wine production piece of view and the business as a whole. It started on a small plot of land over 30 years ago and has become a big success.
"The wines have never been more popular and we’re proud of the reputation we have carved out for ourselves. It’s not possible without a lot of hard work and a touch of kindness from mother nature here and there.
"What we have created here is something we’re all proud of. We think we’re on our way to becoming one of the most reputable and prestigious vineyards in England, but it’s been 40 years in the making and there’s still a great deal of hard work ahead.
"I am hoping Imogen and my other daughter Emily follow in our footsteps, but they will embark on their own careers in their own time, which we’ll support them with.
"The possibilities are endless here, but we never lose sight of the fact that we’re only as good as our wines and for that we need to encourage the growers of the future both for ourselves and the wine growing industry as a whole."