Emma Rice sets up winemaking consultancy for the flourishing English wine industry
26th April 2023
One the UK’s most respected winemakers, Emma Rice has set up her own winemaking consultancy company to advise the burgeoning domestic UK wine industry. She will be offering advice on winery design, equipment sourcing, sensory evaluation and troubleshooting, wine style strategy and general winemaking consultancy.
One of the first graduates of the BSc in Viticulture & Oenology at Plumpton College in 2006, Emma has been at the forefront of the English winemaking industry, at a local level and nationally with Wines of Great Britain as the immediate past Chair of the Winemaking Working Group for many years. She was also involved in WineGB’s recent PDO/PGI regulation revisions for English Sparkling Wine.
She was a Director and Head Winemaker at Hattingley Valley for 14 years whilst also running her wine analysis laboratory, Custom Crush UK Ltd. Overseeing the growth of Hattingley to become one of the largest wineries in the UK, Emma made wine not only for the brand but also for many other vineyards from Hampshire and surrounding counties. Winning multiple awards for her own wines as well as those of her clients, she was responsible for producing 30-40 different cuvées each year from anything between 200 and 700 tonnes of fruit each harvest.
Some of the awards she has won include UK Winemaker of the Year in 2014 and 2016, WineGB Supreme Champion 2020, Drinks Business 100 Master Winemakers 2020 and IWC 2020 English Sparkling Rosé Trophy.
Emma’s first client is one of the original pioneers of English wine, Breaky Bottom Vineyard, established in 1974, the year Emma was born, and run with a single-minded determination by Peter Hall ever since. Emma will be helping Peter to take Breaky Bottom into the future whilst remaining true to his original ethos of letting the vines and terroir of that valley in the South Downs speak through the wine produced. Peter was one of Emma’s original laboratory clients back in 2008, and she has been instrumental in ensuring the quality of his wines since then.
She has also previously spoken to Fruit & Vine, providing her expert advice on how budding wine makers can start a winery.
For more information about the services Emma provides through her consultancy, visit her website.
