Viticulture

Stephen Skelton MW has been involved with growing vines and making wine since 1975. He spent two years in Germany, working at Schloss Schoenborn in the Rheingau and studying at Geisenheim, the world-renowned college of winegrowing and wine-making, with the late Professor Helmut Becker. In 1977 he returned to the UK to establish the vineyards at Tenterden in Kent (now the home of the UK's largest wine producer, Chapel Down Wines), and made wine there for 22 consecutive vintages. From 1988 to 1991 he was also winemaker and general manager at Lamberhurst Vineyards, at that time the largest winery in the UK. He now works as a consultant to vineyards and wineries in the UK, setting up vineyards for the production of both still and sparkling wines. In 1986 Stephen started writing and lecturing about wine and has contributed articles to many different publications. In 1989 he wrote (and published) his first book, The Vineyards of England and in 2001 his second, The Wines of Britain and Ireland (Faber and Faber) which won the Andre Simon Award for Drinks Book of the Year. This was followed by three editions of the UK Vineyards Guide (2008, 2010 and 2016), Vine Varieties, Clones and Rootstocks for UK Vineyards (2014) and Wine Growing in Great Britain (2014). His latest book is The Wines of Great Britain (2019), one of the titles in the Classic Wine Library series. The book on his specialist subject, Viticulture was first published in 2007 and to date has sold almost 10,000 copies, making it one of the largest selling books on its subject in English. It has been sold worldwide and has recently been translated into Japanese and Chinese. He was for many years the English and Welsh vineyards contributor for the annual wine guides written by Hugh Johnson, Oz Clarke and Tom Stevenson and still writes the section on English and Welsh wines in Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine and in Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson's World Atlas of Wine. Stephen was a director of the English Vineyards Association (EVA) from 1982 to 1995 and of its successor organisation, the United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA) from 1995 - 2003. He was Chairman of the UKVA from 1999-2003. He currently is a member of the WineGB Management Advisory Committee (MAC) and is Chairman of the Viticulture Working Group (VWG). He was also at various times between 1982 and 1986, Treasurer, Secretary and Chairman of the South East Vineyards Association, Secretary of the Circle of Wine Writers between 1990 and 1997 and has served on various EU committees in Brussels representing UK winegrowers. In 1999 he took three years off from the viticulture business to do a BSc in Multimedia Technology and Design at Brunel University. Whilst at Brunel, Stephen was awarded the Ede and Ravenscroft Prize for his final year project, a touch-screen wine selector and in 2011 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Anglia-Ruskin University. In 2013 he completed an MA in Life Writing (Biography) at the Creative Writing Department of the University of East Anglia. In 2003, Stephen became a Master of Wine, winning the prestigious Robert Mondavi Trophy for gaining the highest marks in the Theory section of the examination. He was a member of the MW Education Committee from 2003-9 and served as education course wine coordinator for that period. In 2005 he won the AXA Millesimes Communicator of the Year Award for services to the MW education programme. He was a member of the MW Council from 2009-17 and Vice Chairman from 2014-17. He is currently Chairman of the Research Paper Examination Committee. Stephen has judged for the International Wine Challenge, the International Wine and Spirit Competition, the Japan Wine Challenge and the Veritas Wine Awards and has been UK Panel Chair for The Decanter World Wine Awards since 2008.