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Ending the 14th series of The English Wine Diaries on a high with one of the most well known winemakers in the UK, Emma Rice. 

Emma developed a fascination with fine wine while working as a waitress in The White Horse Inn, Chilgrove as a teenager in the 1990s. It was a chance taste of the 1979 vintage of Krug that was the lightbulb moment that began her career in wine. 

She got a job at Oddbins – a rite of passage for anyone going into the wine trade in the nineties – and studied here WSETs before travelling to New Zealand for a harvest. 

Back in the UK and after spotting an advert in the trade press for a Wine Editor, she was taken on as managing editor of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, but  also got involved with the World Atlas of Wine. 

It was during this time that she made the move from London to Brighton and enrolled in the newly created Wine Production Course at Plumpton, becoming one of the first cohort of six to graduate in the UK.

Time in Napa Valley and Tasmania followed but the excitement of working in the burgeoning domestic industry in the UK led her to return home and set up a wine analysis laboratory and consultancy in the South Downs. 

Through this, she was introduced to Simon Robinson, the owner of Hattingley Valley Wines, who asked her to build him a winery – the winery today remains one of the largest in the UK. 

During her 14 or so years at Hattingley, Emma was awarded UK Winemaker of the Year twice, and her wines won many awards including at The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships and WineGB Supreme Champion. 

She left Hattingley Valley in 2022 and currently works as an independent consultant winemaker, releasing the first wines under her own brand last year. 

Emma talks honestly and opening about how the wine industry has changed over the years, including how the challenges she has faced along the way have pushed her to be the winemaker she is today. 

You can follow her latest projects on Instagram @ricerywine and emmarice.com.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk. 

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