Vineyards and wineries

The key assets of a successful vineyard include the right site, team, intellectual property, goodwill, and working capital. Incorporate on-site processing and you have significant plant and machinery to consider, and with that, potential for more sophisticated financing arrangements. Stepping back from the core assets, the wine industry in the UK relies on a network of contracts for the supply of grapes, processing, and branding. Stepping back one step further and the industry exports to an international market, and EU law still governs many day-to-day practicalities.

Deciding whether to buy or invest in a vineyard is a hard decision. In the first/second century AD the Roman senator Pliny the Younger wrote to his friend Calvisius Rufus:

Although Pliny the Younger would have likely associated Britain more with druids and painted tribespeople than wine, he would have recognised the dilemma facing many prospective buyers today. The final decision is a commercial and personal one but it should be informed by a proper understanding of the legal risks.

Understanding these risks on acquisition will save you a hangover the next morning. Equally, as a business develops, the arrangements for each may need revisiting. Finally, on a sale, the treatment of each asset will have wide-ranging commercial, tax, reputational and personal consequences.

In this series, we will be looking at how to buy, expand and pass on a successful English vineyard and winery. What we hope will become clear is that you need a legal team that can advise you on every aspect of your acquisition and business. We have brought together a team from Forsters to work with us in the Rural Land and Business team, including colleagues in Private Client, Banking & Finance, Corporate, Employment, Tax and Dispute Resolution all highly experienced in the matters in hand. We would be delighted to help if you need advice on any aspect of your vineyard business.