19
September 2024
Gusbourne Plc
("Gusbourne", the "Company" or the
"Group")
Pre-Harvest Statement
Harvest 2024 - a focus on quality over quantity
for English wine producers
Gusbourne Plc, the English wine producer, provides an update on the
2024 harvest, expecting a lower yield but high-quality
harvest.
Highlights
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As
widely reported, the UK wine industry has faced a cool,
persistently wet growing season that has resulted in challenging
conditions in the vineyards, negatively impacting
yields.
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Gusbourne’s 2024
harvest is shortly to commence and the poor growing conditions have
most notably impacted our West Sussex vineyards. Following 2023’s
record harvest, the Group anticipates a considerably smaller crop
from 2024 given its strict quality standards.
-
Early analysis
shows particularly expressive, high-quality Pinot Noir in
Kent.
-
The
Group have steadily built a significant stock position in recent
years and it is not expected that there will be interruptions in
ongoing supply to customers as a result of the reduced harvest this
year.
-
Unpredictable
vintages, such as 2024, demonstrate the value in having complete
control of the vineyards, which enables us to control the quality
of fruit which is used to craft Gusbourne wines.
Many vineyards have suffered with mildew this year and West Sussex
in particular is expected to produce significantly less fruit than
last year’s bumper harvest. Throughout the season, Gusbourne’s
dedicated vineyard team pro-actively employed quality control
measures such as canopy management and green harvest to preserve
fruit quality and we are prepared to maintain this focus on quality
as harvest commences. The harvest is still expected to be
high-quality and Gusbourne’s skilled vineyard team will
hand-harvest and hand-select fruit, picking at peak
ripeness.
Our award-winning quality enables the Group to maintain its super
premium position and sell less wine at higher prices and to apply a
price premium to the rarer vintage wines produced. As a
vintage-only wine producer, we have a history of achieving
excellent results in challenging vintages. Such as 2012, a vintage
that produced a Blanc de Blancs which won a Gold Medal at the
International Wine & Spirit Competition when released for sale
in 2017.
Jonathan White, Chief Executive Officer,
commented:
“The fruit is looking promising, with some beautiful Pinot Noir.
Acidity is also excellent. We will begin harvest in the coming
days.
Thanks to careful work in the vineyard, we are confident that only
pristine, clean fruit will be picked. Any fruit which does not meet
our exacting standards will remain in the vineyard. The result is
that the 2024 harvest will be considerably smaller in quantity, but
we expect the wines to still reflect our usual exceptional
quality.”
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Gusbourne Plc
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Jonathan White, CEO
Katharine Berry, CFO/COO
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+44
(0)12 3375 8666
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Phil Clark, Investor
Relations
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Panmure Liberum Limited (Nomad and Sole
Broker)
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James Sinclair-Ford / Ailsa
Macmaster
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+44 (0)20 7886 2500
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Tom Scrivens
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Media
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Kate Hoare / Ben Robinson / India
Spencer (Houston)
gusbourne@houston.co.uk
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+44
(0)20 4529 0549
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This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as
amended by regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit)
Regulations 2019/310. With the publication of this announcement,
this information is now considered to be in the public domain. The
person responsible for arranging for the release of this
announcement on behalf of the Company is Katharine Berry, Chief
Financial Officer.
Note: This and other press releases
are available at the Company's website: www.gusbourne.com/investors
Note to Editors
Gusbourne produces and distributes a
range of high quality and award winning vintage English sparkling
wines from grapes grown in its own vineyards in Kent and West
Sussex.
The Gusbourne business was founded
by Andrew Weeber in 2004 with the first vineyard plantings at
Appledore in Kent. The first wines were released in 2010 to
critical acclaim. Following additional vineyard plantings in 2013
and 2015 in both Kent and West Sussex, Gusbourne now has 93
hectares of mature vineyards. The NEST visitor centre was opened
next to the winery in Appledore in 2017, providing tours, tastings
and a direct outlet for our wines.
Right from the beginning,
Gusbourne's intention has always been to produce the finest English
sparkling wines. Starting with carefully chosen sites, we use best
practice in establishing and maintaining the vineyards and conduct
green harvests to ensure we achieve the highest quality grapes for
each vintage. A quest for excellence is at the heart of everything
we do. We blind taste hundreds of samples before finalising our
blends and even after the wines are bottled, they spend extended
time on their lees to add depth and flavour. Once disgorged, extra
cork ageing further enhances complexity. Our winemaking process
remains traditional, but one that is open to innovation where
appropriate. It takes four years to bring a vineyard into full
production and a further four years to transform those grapes into
Gusbourne's premium sparkling wine.
Gusbourne's luxury brand enjoys
premium price positioning and is distributed in the finest
establishments both in the UK and abroad. Our wines can be found in
leading luxury retailers, restaurants, hotels and stockists, always
being aware that where we are says a lot about who we
are.
For more information, visit
www.gusbourneplc.com