James Wine

France

This varietal offering is one of the fruits of our cooperation with French-based wine designer Roger Lewis and winemaker Boris Kovak. The concept here is to marry original design with fabulous wines and to share the resulting new brands with our import partners. Curious Fruit for example is offered in 75cl screw cap, 25cl aluminum can as well as 187ml bottles.

In collaboration with our Norwegian importer we have sourced a top-quality wine and created packaging for this premium bag-in-box offer. An example of the type of innovative project that we are always happy to help develop with
our trade partners.

We can offer a full range of top Bordeaux wines via our association with Les Vins de Crus, one of the top houses on the Place de Bordeaux. Through this partnership we have privileged access to allocations of the top-rated wines as they are offered ex château en primeur and of mature vintages lying in Vin de Crus Bordeaux cellars, so provenance is always guaranteed.

Le Portail is our latest offering of premium white Bordeaux: a fabulously fresh blend of Sauvignon blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle. The branding marries a classic but contemporary label with tradition-defying bottle shape and Stelvin closure – designed to pass a subliminal Sauvignon Blanc message to consumers who may be unfamiliar with the style white Bordeaux.

Jacques Lurton is very serious about Sauvignon blanc. His Touraine Sauvignon Blanc is a classic; really bright, zingy fruit, lovely concentration and length. The Pouilly Fumé 2008, Jacques’ first vintage here, is astonishing; a quite beautiful purity of style and intensity of fruit. Returning literally to home territory La Martinette is 5 Ha of Merlot around his house in the Moulon valley– rich, juicy un-oaked Bordeaux Sup.

This is really top quality Sauvignon Blanc, awarded a gold medal and the Trophy for best Sauvignon Blanc at the Concours National IGP de France, from a domaine in the Côtes de Gascogne which has both the ambition and the technical wherewithal to deliver a really excellent and fantastically consistent product.

South Africa

An historic vineyard site in Paarl, the first vintage here was in 1692, owned and run since 2002 by Kosie Möller one of SA best young winemakers. A full selection of ‘cultivars’ ranging from the accessible Miller’s Mile wines, to the premium varietals under the estate Klein Parys label.

A new brand made in collaboration with Kosie Möller at Klein Parys. ‘Eye-catching’ packaging and an emphasis on bright, clean fruit flavours make Tokolosh, named for the impish spirit of African mythology, a simple, and attractive retail option.

Also produced with Kosie Möller we have developed a second range of more traditionally presented South African single and twin varietals, entry point wines and premium single variety barrel-aged wines from WO Paarl under the Tooverberg Contour label. The range also includes a Cap Classique Chardonnay, launched this year, and the Kahawa ‘coffee’ Pinotage.

Australia

The Islander Estate is 15Ha vines in surrounded by 200 of un-spoilt Australian bush on Kangaroo Island off the Coast of South Australia. The cool climate and unique terroir here allow Bordeaux-born Jacques Lurton to produce wonderfully-balanced, elegant wines from Sangiovese, from Cabernet Franc and from Malbec as well as from the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon that you’d expect from this part of the world.

By way of introduction to the delicious, but admittedly quite pricey, Islander Estate wines Jacques Lurton has created a more accessible range of wines, blends his own estate-grown fruit and wines from the vineyards of his fellow ‘islanders’. The philosophy is the same, to offer ripe and characterful wines with a touch of old world balance and structure in the finish. The range now comprises a Sangiovese, a Shiraz and the Chardonnay.