Defined Wine Ltd

What Defined Wine Ltd does

Defined Wine Ltd is a UK-based contract winemaker founded in late 2018 by Henry Sugden and operating from two sites: Highland Court Farm in Bridge, Kent (CT4 5HL/HN) and Holton Hall Farm in Holton St Mary, Suffolk (East Anglia, CO7 6NN). The company deliberately owns no vineyards and produces no wines of its own; its entire business is providing contract winemaking services to English wine producers and vineyard owners who lack their own production facilities or require supplemental capacity.

The service offering spans the full 'crate to case' workflow: grape pressing (six presses across both sites), fermentation in temperature-controlled tanks ranging from 1,000L to 20,000L, gentle filtration using a Pall cross flow filter, riddling via gyros, disgorging across half bottles, standard bottles, and magnums, bottling for still wines (cork, screw cap, vinolok) and sparkling wines (bidule, crown cap), labelling, cold stabilisation, and temperature-controlled bonded storage with separate zones for secondary fermentation. A dedicated analytical laboratory service uses OenoFoss and Anton Parr CarboxQC equipment to run more than 20 assays (ABV, pH/TA, SO2, glucose/fructose, malic acid, volatile acidity, YAN, protein and cold stability, filterability, dissolved oxygen/CO2, pressure, yeast viability, and others). Defined Wine also refers clients to its affiliated platform Wine and Grape Trading for grape and bulk/bottled wine sourcing.

Commercial model is B2B professional services delivered through enterprise field sales and direct relationships with English wine producers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; services are sold as full 'crate to case' packages or as discrete individual services (pressing, filtration, bottling, lab analysis). Marketing is largely earned media (Vineyard Magazine, The Buyer, The Times, Decanter, Fruit & Vine) plus email newsletters. Equipment was part-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the company is one of the first accredited under the Wine GB Sustainability Scheme. Headcount is approximately 30+, including a heavily credentialed international winemaking team led by Director of Winemaking Nick Lane (ex-Cloudy Bay; ex-Moët & Dom Perignon) and CEO Henry Sugden.

Name

Defined Wine Ltd

Legal name

Defined Wine Ltd

Website

https://definedwine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Defined Wine Ltd is a UK-based contract-only winery with no vineyards or brands of its own, operating from Kent and East Anglia sites to provide 'crate to case' winemaking services — pressing, fermentation, bottling, lab analysis, and storage — for English wine producers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bridge, Canterbury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contract Winemaking Services: Full 'crate to case' contract winemaking services for stills, sparkling, and natural wines. Services include pressing, fermentation, filtration, riddling, disgorging, bottling, labelling, storage, and cold stabilisation. Also offers discrete individual services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Defined Wine Ltd is a contract-only winery operating from two UK sites (Kent and East Anglia) that provides full 'crate to case' winemaking services for English wine producers and vineyards. Services span pressing, fermentation, filtration, riddling, disgorging, bottling, labelling, temperature-controlled bonded storage, and cold stabilisation for still, sparkling, and natural wines. The company also offers an in-house analytical laboratory service and a referral channel for grape and wine sourcing, while owning no vineyards or brands of its own.

Product overview

Defined Wine Ltd operates as a contract-only winery with no vineyards or brands of its own. Their core offering is the 'Crate to Case' contract winemaking service, which encompasses pressing, filtration (Pall cross flow and hybrid filters), riddling and disgorging, bottling and labelling (still and sparkling), temperature-controlled bonded storage, and cold stabilisation. They complement this with a full analytical laboratory service (offering over 20 types of analysis including ABV, pH/TA, SO2, malic acid, and more using OenoFoss and Anton Parr equipment) and a wine and grape trading referral service. All services are offered from two locations in Kent and East Anglia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wine GBcoreOthersIndustry trade association partnership. Defined Wine is a member and participant in Wine GB activities. The company is accredited to the Wine GB Sustainability Scheme.
• Wine and Grape TradingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated company providing wine and grape sourcing services. Defined Wine can help clients find grapes and wine (bulk or bottled) through this sister company.
• Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA)minorOthersUK trade association membership providing industry representation and networking.
• Produced in KentminorOthersLocal food and drink certification/marketing scheme for Kent-based producers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bin to Bottle: US contract winemaking and bottling facility serving multiple wine brands without owning labels. Direct structural comparable to Defined Wine's crate-to-case B2B service model.
• Indevin: New Zealand's largest contract winery, explicitly named in Defined Wine's team bios as Nora Leitz's previous employer. Operates the same pure contract-only model serving multiple wine brands, making it the closest international business model twin.
• Rack & Riddle Custom Wine Services: US custom crush facility specializing in sparkling wine production, including riddling and disgorging services. Mirrors Defined Wine's contract-only ethos and its specific capability in traditional method sparkling wine services.
• Wineworks (New Zealand): NZ-based contract winemaking and bottling operator serving multiple wine brand owners. Compares directly to Defined Wine on contract-only focus, multi-client winery configuration, and full-service offering from pressing through bottling.
• Vinpac International: Australian contract bottling, packaging, and winemaking services provider. Similar B2B service model with comparable capital intensity in packaging and bottling lines, and adjacency to a major wine-producing region.
• BevZero: US-based wine processing services company offering filtration, alcohol adjustment, and bottling. Comparable to Defined Wine in providing outsourced technical processing services to wine producers at scale.

Broad incumbents

• Constellation Brands: One of the world's largest wine producers with significant UK and premium wine operations. Broad incumbent in the wine category that competes with Defined Wine's clients for end-market share, and which also operates custom wine services at scale.
• Treasury Wine Estates: Global wine major with substantial operations in Australian and global premium wine. Largest-scale comparable to a UK wine production services business, relevant for industry context and as a potential strategic acquirer.

Regional players

• Kingsland Drinks: UK-based wine services and bottling company. Regional comparable offering contract services to UK wine trade and producers, adjacent to Defined Wine's English wine customer base.

Others

• Wine and Grape Trading: Explcitly named sister company of Defined Wine, providing wine and grape sourcing services to clients. Ecosystem participant that extends Defined Wine's offering into raw material sourcing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/defined-wine-ltd

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Defined Wine Ltd