Campden BRI has opened a specialist wine laboratory and tasting centre in Guildford, providing a major boost to English and Welsh wine producers.
The new wine services laboratory in Campden, located in the state-of-the-art Surrey Research Park, represents a significant investment in the rapidly expanding local wine industry, and will support UK winemakers and international wineries exporting to the UK market.
Campden has recruited two highly regarded experts to enhance its industry-leading expertise: Chief Analytical Chemist Robert Pride and Dr Gregory Dunn, Director of Industry Development and Technology. Both men are widely acclaimed for their contributions to the wine industry.
Prior to recently joining the Campden Research Institute, Pride was Regional Director for Endeavour Drinks Group. He gained a BSc in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry from Flinders University in Australia before joining the country’s wine industry, where he has held technical roles for the past 12 years. Dan was previously Deputy Editor of the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research and Head of the Wine Department at Plumpton College, East Sussex, the only institution in the UK training wine professionals and viticulturists at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
The launch of the Wine Services Lab follows the UK food science company’s strategic partnership with the Australian Wine Research Institute in spring 2023. It also follows the recent announcement that Campden BRI has become WineGB’s new scientific and technical partner.
With the opening of the new laboratory, UK winemakers will have access to a wide range of services provided by highly qualified laboratory staff, covering the full spectrum of scientific solutions to simple and complex wine problems. A series of official opening events are scheduled for late August, where all sectors of the UK wine industry will be able to visit the facility and speak to the staff.
Peter Hedridge, CEO of Campden BRI, pointed to the significant investment in state-of-the-art analytical equipment in a brand new laboratory, which will future-proof the technical offering and capabilities.
“The new laboratory is a real vote of confidence in the local wine industry which has been growing steadily and now requires the best technical support and consultancy to help it compete on the global stage,” said Hedridge.
The move comes as British wine producers are experiencing a boom. WineGB recently released data showing that enough grapes will be harvested in 2023 to make 22 million bottles of wine. That’s 68% more than Britain’s previous record harvest in 2018, when enough grapes were harvested to make 13.1 million bottles.
