Choosing software for an English or Welsh estate
vintrace, Vinsight, a spreadsheet or GrapeFlow? Winery software for UK estates
Two overseas systems show British wineries on their own websites: vintrace, now owned by Encompass Technologies, lists Wiston Estate among its testimonials, and Vinsight, run from Auckland, displays a Chapel Down logo. Plenty of smaller English and Welsh estates still keep the inward and outward register in a spreadsheet or a bound book. GrapeFlow is a younger, smaller option aimed at estates that grow their own fruit. What follows about vintrace and Vinsight was taken from their own pages on 1 November 2026; where they go further than GrapeFlow — sales, stock valuation, Xero, a native phone app — we say so.
- 90-day free trial
- No card details needed
- No per-user charges
How the options line up against British record-keeping
Rows follow the duties an estate in Great Britain carries: FSA Wine Standards, HMRC Alcohol Duty and the plant protection record. Vendor cells quote or paraphrase their sites as read on 1 November 2026. “Not mentioned on the pages we read” is exactly that — a gap in what the listed pages say, not proof the feature is missing.
| vintrace | Vinsight | Spreadsheet or paper register | GrapeFlow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price shown online | No — the site offers a live demonstration | A plans page exists; the figures did not load when we read it, and we quote none here | Nothing beyond your time and an office licence | 99 USD a month or 990 USD a year, plus any applicable taxes, every module included |
| Who is behind it | Founded in Australia; joined Encompass Technologies in 2022; “7.6K winemaking team members” in 19 countries | Head office in Devonport, Auckland; contact numbers for New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA, none for the UK | Whoever on the estate built the workbook | A small company; English and Portuguese interface |
| UK estates named on the site | Wiston Estate, labelled “UK”, on the testimonials page | A Chapel Down Winery logo labelled “UK” on the home page | Not applicable | None named |
| Vineyard side | vintrace Vineyard, built on eVineyard: mapping, work tracking, payroll, mobile data collection, pest and disease forecasts | Spray Diaries, Operation Worksheets, and soil, met and growth-stage records | Usually a separate sheet per parcel, if kept at all | Parcels with varieties and planting years, phenology, maturity sampling, field notes, mildew risk per parcel |
| Plant protection record (product, dose, time, area, crop) | Not mentioned on the pages we read | “Spray Diaries”; a UK-specific layout is not described | Possible, with columns you design and keep for three years yourself | Each application with product, active substance, dose, area, date, re-entry and harvest intervals; intake flags fruit picked inside the harvest interval |
| Inward and outward register for Wine Standards | “Manage your compliance requirements”; the UK register is not described | “Compliance” is listed; the UK register is not described | The traditional route — every entry typed or written by hand by the next working day | Dated intake, transfers, blends, additions and bottling by lot and vessel; no print-out in a prescribed layout |
| WSB 21 declaration and WSB 15 accompanying document | Not mentioned on the pages we read | Not mentioned on the pages we read | Filled in from your own totals | Holds the hectares and litres you declare from; produces neither form |
| HMRC Alcohol Duty and bonded stock | Not mentioned on the pages we read | “Bonded Locations” and “Excise Tax” are listed; HMRC returns are not described | Duty worked out by hand or by your accountant | No duty calculation, no return, no duty account |
| Cellar work | Dry goods, bottling logistics, stock location, work processes; barcoded tanks and work orders on the phone app | Winery worksheets, component and blend tracking, lab and fermentation recording, temperature control integration | Tank sheets and lab results in separate tabs | Tanks, barrels and amphorae, ferments, analyses, bottling runs; parcel-to-bottle trace with a PDF recall report and a QR page per bottled lot |
| Money, stock and sales | QuickBooks and Xero named; direct purchasing and sales; profit and loss reporting | Xero add-on, multi-currency, price books, picking and packing slips, COGS and finished goods valuation; Shopify, WooCommerce, Commerce7 and Lightspeed | Kept in your accounts package | None: no accounting link, no costing, no sales or shop module |
| On the phone | vintrace Mobile for Android and iOS | “Phone, Tablet or Computer” in the browser; a native app is not described | Depends on the file and the signal at the vineyard | The full app in a mobile browser; no native app |
vintrace is a trademark of Encompass Technologies; Vinsight, Wiston Estate and Chapel Down belong to their respective owners. GrapeFlow has no affiliation with any of them, and neither vendor reviewed this page. Software changes faster than this table does, so confirm anything that matters with the vendor before signing.
What the others do better
vintrace
Users in 19 countries, by its own count, and a UK estate among its published testimonials. Its native phone app scans barcoded vessels and runs work orders, its vineyard module adds payroll and mapping, and it connects to QuickBooks, Xero, ETS Laboratories, TankNet and BarrelWise. If you make wine for other estates or need accounting links, it covers ground GrapeFlow does not.
Vinsight
Runs the commercial end of an estate as well as the cellar: orders with price books, picking slips, purchase orders to suppliers, finished-goods valuation and COGS, multi-currency, bonded stock locations and a Xero add-on, plus Shopify, WooCommerce and Lightspeed for a cellar door or online shop. GrapeFlow sells nothing and values no stock.
A spreadsheet or bound register
Costs nothing extra, bends to any layout an inspector prefers, and needs no subscription to stay readable in five years’ time. For a small estate with one wine and no staff, it can be enough.
When GrapeFlow is the better fit
You grow the fruit you press
Parcels, spraying and harvest intake sit in the same records as the cellar, so a wine made at your own winery or by a contract maker can still be followed back to the rows it came from.
You want the price up front
99 USD a month or 990 USD a year for the whole business, no per-user charges, and a 90-day trial that asks for no card details.
Mildew is your worry in a wet summer
A downy and powdery mildew risk estimate for each parcel, calculated from modelled weather at its location. It informs your decision; it does not tell you to spray.
You are moving off a spreadsheet
Parcels, vessels, harvest deliveries and bottled stock load from CSV, and the wine already in tank starts life as an opening balance.
GrapeFlow for UK grower-makers →
Sources
Each statement about vintrace or Vinsight above was read on one of these pages on 1 November 2026.
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace overview
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace about us
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace testimonials
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace wine production software
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace Vineyard
- Encompass Technologies — vintrace Mobile for Android and iOS
- Vinsight — home page
- Vinsight — contact us
- Vinsight — winery software features
- Vinsight — production app
- Vinsight — sales and inventory
- Vinsight — integrations
- Vinsight — pricing and plans
A single price for the whole estate
99 USD a month, or 990 USD a year (two months free), plus any applicable taxes. Vineyard, winery, traceability and spray records are all included, with no per-user charges. 90-day free trial, no card details needed.
Begin the 90-day trialQuestions British estates ask before switching
Will GrapeFlow produce my inward and outward register for a Wine Standards visit?
It keeps every dated movement and cellar operation by lot and vessel, which is what the inspector reads through, but it does not print the register in a prescribed layout, keep separate PDO and PGI accounts for you or close the annual balance. Those checks stay with the producer.
Do any of these products send my Alcohol Duty return to HMRC?
GrapeFlow does not, and calculates no duty. The vintrace pages we read do not mention HMRC; Vinsight lists excise tax and bonded locations but does not describe HMRC returns. Ask each vendor directly if duty is the deciding factor.
Our wine is made under contract at another winery. Is GrapeFlow still useful?
Yes for the vineyard: parcels, spray records, maturity samples and the harvest you deliver. If the contract maker gives you access, the cellar records can be kept there too; GrapeFlow has no portal for contract winemaking clients.
Can we bring our spreadsheet records across?
Parcels, tanks, harvest deliveries and finished stock import from CSV. Past lot histories do not: the current wine becomes opening balances, and new work is recorded from there.
Does GrapeFlow connect to Xero or a web shop?
No. There is a read-only REST API but no accounting, e-commerce or point-of-sale link. vintrace names QuickBooks and Xero; Vinsight names Xero, Shopify, WooCommerce, Commerce7 and Lightspeed.
What does GrapeFlow cost, and is there a trial?
99 USD a month, or 990 USD a year with two months free, plus any applicable taxes. That covers the whole estate with every module and no per-user charges. The 90-day trial needs no card details.