Much of my research and teaching earlier in my career was related to wine, but from the late 1990s the realisation that, while wine can do much to make us happy, being directly involved in the enormous changes taking place as a result of the design, production and use of digital technologies was something that could actually make the world a better place. I greatly value the opportunities that I have had over the last 25 years to engage directly in that field, but as I increasingly realise that digital tech is now beng used to do more harm than good, I value even more the opportunities that I have had to re-engage more actively with wine. I am therefore especially grateful to have been asked at the start of this decade to serve as the UK and Ireland Academy Chair for the World’s Best Vineyards Awards, initiated by William Reed Ltd. Each year, more than 500 panellists from across the world vote for their favourite wine tourism experiences, and these are then collated into lists of the top 50, and the next 51-100 award winners. Although selecting the UK and Ireland panel, and ensuring that all panellists do indeed vote is very much more diffficult and exhausting than you would imagine, the team at William Reed has brought together an amazing group of people associated with the awards, and alongside the award winners we have become a wonderful group of friends, committed to enhancing the visibility and success of wine tourism, which makes all the effort worthwhile. This owes much to Andrew Reed’s (MD Wine and Exhibitions) personal charm, hard work and commitment to perfection, as well as the enthusiasm of the team he has brought together to make the awards the success that they have become.

Each year, the awards ceremony is held in a different part of the world: the Rheingau and Rheinhessen in 2021, Mendoza in 2022, and Rioja in 2023. In 2024 it was the turn of England to host the awards ceremony, and this provided an excellent opportunity for participants to experience the transformations that have taken place in English wine production over the last two decades. The awards ceremony itself was generously hosted by Nyetimber, in its magnificent Medieval Barn, with Eric Heerema (Owner and Chief Executive), Cherie Spriggs (Head Winemaker) and Zoë Dearsley (Brand Ambassador) providing an overview of the property and the wines before the awards were announced. Hopefully the images below capture something of the pleasure and excitement of the event.

The introductions

The Awards ceremony

As Chair of the UK-Ireland panel, it was great to see two of our vineyards and wineries in the top 100 awards: Gusbourne and Nyetimber. Both are to be congratulated for their achievements in this very tough competition.

Pre-awards visit to Tinwood Wine Estate

Before the awards ceremony, all Academy Chairs had been invited to an estate visit and delicious lunch and wine tasting at Tinwood Estate, hosted by Art and Jody:

An exploration of the best of south-east England’s wineries and vineyards

After the awards ceremony, it was an enormous pleasure to take four of the Academy Chairs (Chiara Giorleo – Chair for Italy; Lotte Karolina Gabrovits – Chair for Germany, Benelux and Nordic; Pál Gabrovits – Chair for Austria, Hungary and Switzerland; and Pedro Nelson Dias – Chair for Portugal) on an exploration of some of the best wineries and vineyards in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. We are all immensely grateful to the proprietors and staff of these estates for their hospitality and the time they spent with us. Glimpses of our experiences (in the order that we visited them) are shared below to encourage you to visit these estates and get to know some of the excellent wines that are currently being produced in south-east England.

Greyfriars VineyardAlbury Vineyard and Silent PoolLeonardslee Family VineyardRidgeviewChapel DownGusbourneBolney Wine Estate

A big thank you once again to all those who hosted us and shared their wines so generously.