One of Germany’s leading manufacturers of specialist viticulture machinery, ERO also produce the Elite vine trimmer, one of which we delivered this month to Roebuck Estates. We caught up with vineyard manager Jake Wicks to find out why they chose the ERO and how the team is getting on with the new machine.
Recipient of last year’s ‘newcomer of the year’ trophy at the WineGB Awards, Roebuck Estates has quickly established itself as one of the country’s most noteworthy upcoming sparkling wine brands.
With some 200,000 vines spread across several sites planted in both East and West Sussex, the Hazelhurst Farm vineyard, near Ticehurst, where the double-sided ERO vine trimmer will be used, comprises 16ha of Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, planted in 2017.
“This site, even though it was only planted three years ago has established itself incredibly well and we will be looking to use the trimmer here around three times a year,” said Jake. “To date, we have been sharing equipment between the vineyards, but as Hazelhurst will be commercially cropping from this year onwards, we have decided to invest in machinery specifically for this site.”
While a different brand of trimmer is used across the other sites, Jake said he is already impressed with how easy the ERO is to operate and is considering purchasing the defoliator next year too, as the trimmers come with a double-acting lift frame on which other ERO products can also be mounted.
“I had heard really good things about the ERO vine trimmer from Sam Barnes and as this site is very close to NP Seymour, I was also keen to use them as they’re the local dealership,” said Jake. “The ERO is very user friendly compared to the other brands I have used before. Our vineyard assistant Simon, who’s not worked in a vineyard before, has only been with us a few weeks, and yet he’s taken to the vine trimmer like a duck to water.
“It’s also incredibly user friendly in that it’s really straightforward to get the trimmer on and off the tractor. As we have a New Holland, NP Seymour had to make and fit a special front-mounted bracket, and Nick also had to do a bit of work with our hydraulic system, but it has all be really well set up. Engineering is something which NP Seymour does really well; they provide a great service, and everything is always really well produced.”