Exclusive Producers
Relationships are at the core of our business and we are proud to represent some outstanding wine makers from the across the globe. From long-established producers with an amazing history of wine making to new, cutting-edge wineries in emerging regions, our portfolio is wide-ranging and of the highest standards.
Cecilia Beretta
The Cecilia Beretta estate was founded in the 1980s, just to the east of the famous wine village of Valpolicella. It was named after the 17th century agronomist and poet Count Giuseppe Beretta, who built the beautiful Villa in Mizzole in the heart of the estate, now surrounded by vineyards. The local Pasqua family had owned the surrounding vineyards since the 1940s, but a renewed drive for quality and a concentration on modern oenological technologies became a priority in the 1980s with competition from the ‘New World’; traditional winemaking countries like Italy were forced to up their game. Thus the quality-focused Cecilia Beretta winery was born.
By 1998, this experimental terrain became the research centre within the Agricultural faculty of the local university. The main objective of the winery today is to make wines of the highest quality from the indigenous grapes of the Valpolicella and Soave appellations. As always in pursuit of quality, the Cecilia Beretta vineyards are now under conversion to organic viticulture and will soon be certified. Today it is Carlo’s daughter Cecilia (most appropriately named!) who is global ambassador for the Cecilia Beretta estate and wines.
Schloss Schonborn
Sadly many people deny themselves the joy of good German wine believing them to be sweet. The best however are phenomenal, fine Rieslings exquisite, stunning in youth and ageing well. German vineyards, global warming notwithstanding, are absolutely at the limit, almost beyond the limit of where grapes will ripen. This is both a constant threat and a magnificent opportunity as vine and man both struggle to balance two essential but dangerous elements in fine wine – acidity and sugar. Too much or too little of either is disastrous. Here, in the best wines, the “sweetness” regarded as alien, is grape ripeness, not sugar per se. When ripeness and acidity come together harmoniously, the results can be electric. The vineyard sites owned by Schloss Schönborn are perfect in achieving this end, at every level. Labelling can be difficult as the wines are graded for quality, dependent on their ripeness, but each level has a perfect food partner. These wines are so wonderfully food friendly, complementing even awkward flavours like smoke and spice, whilst delightfully measured in alcohol.
Domaine Gourt de Mautens
Several generations of Jérôme Bressy’s family had cultivated vines here but sold their grapes to the local co-operative. In 1989, Jérôme’s father Yves made a life-changing step, converting his vineyard holdings to organic farming – a massive investment given that he would continue selling to the co-op, with no premium. His extraordinary prescience delivered a healthy, balanced vineyard to Jérôme, the first member of this family of viticulturists to study winemaking. For his first vintage, the “winery” was an old aircraft hangar on the estate. By 1998 a purpose-built chai was in situ and the scene had been set to produce wines of great purity and precision, now certified organic and biodynamic. Jérôme is very particular about his wines’ style and, with changes to the appellation laws, his vision was at odds with the prescribed varietals allowed. Faced with turning his back on his own style or accepting he could not have Rasteau emblazoned on his labels, he elected the latter course. The wines come from within Rasteau but are declassified in order to accommodate his preferred blends.
Domaine Pierre Morey
We knew Pierre Morey during his two decades as Régisseur of Domaine Leflaive, from 1988 to 2008. He combined this high profile position with running the eponymous family domaine in Meursault. We have long wanted to work with these fabulous wines and finally secured our first allocation in the 2017 vintage. This was swiftly followed by our appointment as exclusive UK agent from the 2018 vintage. Pierre remains a constant presence here but it is now his daughter, Anne Morey, who runs the domaine and its associated négociant operation, Morey-Blanc. The latter is only distinguishable in that these vines are not owned by the family – handling and ageing are identical, taking place in the domaine’s cellars. Winemaking is protective, with 100% destemming of the reds. The wines have an astonishing sense of purity and hit that sweet spot of fruit expression and terroir nuance.
Domaine Marquis D’Angerville
With eight premier cru vineyards – an impressive and enviable portfolio, the domaine is today overseen by Guillaume D’Angerville, following the death of his father Jacques in 2003. Guillaume heads a team which includes his brother-in-law, Renaud de Villette, who had worked alongside Jacques for a number of years, and François Duvivier, in the vineyard and cellar. Renaud, François and Guillaume are acutely aware of their responsibility to these great terroirs. After years of research and experimentation, the Domaine is now fully biodynamic. In the most simplistic terms, biodynamic viticulture embraces cosmic rhythms, philosophy and metaphysics as much as agricultural disciplines. It encourages a complex variety of species which make for living, breathing soils and healthier, disease-resistant vines. With responsibility for some of the best of Volnay, meticulous care is fundamental to the Domaine’s philosophy and this is reflected in the finished wines. This is a complex estate with the highest rated vineyard being Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs, monopole essentially the garden of main house. These are long-lived wines, at the very top of the quality ladder.
Château La Tour de l’Evêque
The majestic Château La Tour de l’Evêque stands in the commune of Pierrefeu in Provence, close to the Maurettes hills.
Domaine Leflaive
The Domaine dates back to 1717, with founder Joseph Leflaive but recent history owes a tremendous debt to his grand-daughter Anne-Claude Leflaive, who was manager from 1994 until her untimely death in 2015. Brice is Anne-Claude’s nephew and great grandson of Joseph. Domaine Leflaive is a standard bearer for Anne-Claude’s passionately held views on biodynamic cultivation. This philosophy has, at its heart, the individual treatment of vines by plant-based compounds, according to a strict timetable governed by the lunar cycle, allied to a total ban on systemic chemical treatments and insecticides. Biodynamic experiments at Domaine Leflaive started in the early nineties with the disciplines being fully endorsed from 1997.
The prime motivation initially was Anne-Claude’s concern about the sustainability of the land but the rewards have extended far beyond the vineyards, which have thrived under the regime. There were remarkable quality improvements in the finished wines – a welcome, unintended and totally unexpected bonus. The Domaine epitomises classic Puligny style, the wines having exemplary purity, focus and integrity. With the Meursault, they are true to their origins.
Achaval-Ferrer
From the outset, the friends’ ambition was decisive and bold; they would make a world-class wine in Argentina, in high altitude Mendoza. In terms of customer satisfaction and Press recognition, they have achieved this in spades. The original group inspired today’s young Pretenders, a young talented team which is as passionate about the Achaval wines as the founders. The wines’ potential is set in the vineyard but tender aftercare helps. An exciting improvement therefore is the transformation from what was essentially a large hut to a magnificent state of the art winery – all in pursuit of improving quality.
More important, the fundamental principles of Achaval-Ferrer remain essentially unchanged. They are perhaps even stronger, exerted with renewed confidence. The wines of Achaval Ferrer will continue to come from the same excruciatingly low-yielding, high altitude sites and from ancient, un-grafted vines. The goals are to achieve absolute quality, create a very pure expression of Malbec, and ensure vibrancy and freshness across all of the wines.
Agricola Azienda Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera®
It is difficult to avoid superlatives when writing about this unique wine. The 24 hectares of vineyards and garden have been transformed from abandoned scrubland to a Garden Of Eden, where wildlife, flowers and vines flourish under the fastidious care of Gianfranco Soldera and his wife, Graziella. At around 320m above sea level, the property is high enough to avoid frosts, to enjoy warm, daytime temperatures and cool nights – ideal for even ripening. There are two distinct parcels of vines, planted exclusively with Gianfranco’s revered Sangiovese Grosso, the only grape he believes truly belongs here. Case Basse®, 2 hectares in size, was planted in 1972 and Vigna Intistieti, 4hectares, in 1973. Gianfranco’s and Graziella focus on creating the perfect ecosystem.
An important early alliance was with the winemaker Giulio Gambelli, “il grande maestro del Sangiovese”. Gambelli continued to consult at Case Basse until his death in 2012. The two men discovered common ground, both ideologically and more prosaically on such topics as minimal intervention, no temperature control, no added yeasts, long maceration on skins and long ageing in large Slavonian botti. Case Basse was and is constantly evolving as Gianfranco and now Monica, Gianfranco’s daughter, and family look for ways in which to encourage a bird- and insect-rich environment. The vines themselves are tended with extraordinary attention to detail. Everything is done by hand. Paolo, Monica’s husband, spent many years in the vineyards working with Gianfranco and it is Paolo who is now very much the man in the vines.
Domaine Stephane Magnien
Domaine Stephane Magnien is located in Morey-Saint-Denis. The range is very exciting, with not only Morey-Saint-Denis Villages and 1er Cru but also some Chambolle-Musigny Villages, 1er Cru, a Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru and a Clos St Denis Grand Cru. There are also some regional appellations. A very complete range with 80% of the vineyards in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis. Founded in 1847 by Victor Magnien, the domaine‟s holdings cover 4.5 hectares, with an average vine age of around 50 years. There is a high proportion of Pinot Tordu, a clone of Pinot Noir producing particularly small berries.
Stephane is the fourth generation to run the estate, the family having started to make wine at the beginning of the 1900s. The chai is in the family house, dating back from the 18th century. Jean Paul Magnien, Stephane‟s father, was the first to bottle the wines under the family name, rather than selling them to negociants. Stephane took over in 2008, which was his first solo vintage.
L’Aurage
Louis, hugely talented, had learned his trade whilst working for his father François Mitjavile, the iconic trailblazer at Tertre Roteboeuf in St Emilion and Roc de Cambes in the Côtes de Bourg. Louis had forged a remarkable reputation in his own right, consulting widely, before he acquired this fabulous estate in the Côtes de Castillon, an appellation which borders St Emilion and enjoys the same clay/limestone soil as its esteemed neighbour.
Louis’ aim is to harvest super-ripe grapes which offer intense black fruit, allied to ripe, supple tannins, making for a seductive, richly-textured palate. His challenge in the cellar is to extract the fruit’s full potential in a gentle, regular way and then stabilise the result through long maturation in new oak barriques. Louis wants to see opulence in his wines, rather than concentration, with balance being the overall objective. Domaine de l’Aurage is a tremendous ambassador for the Côtes de Castillon appellation, sumptuous, elegant and long.
Roc de Cambes
This is his property in the Côtes de Bourg, a vineyard reminiscent of Tertre Roteboeuf, being as it is, a natural amphitheatre with a perfect aspect overlooking the Gironde River. It comprises fourteen hectares of old vines planted on the most highly reputed slope of the Côtes (les Croutes), where the heat of the sun on the slope is regulated by the effects of the estuary and cool clay/limestone soils. This makes for regular growth and wonderfully ripe, concentrated fruit.
Essentially François Mitjavile’s approach was to coax optimal quality in a region with great, but often unrealised, potential. He made Roc de Cambes flourish. With his son Louis (now owner of L’Aurage) and his daughter Nina (increasingly at the helm) his experience and philosophy from St Emilion come into play here. Together they control vigour and pick only when the grapes are super-ripe. They have succeeded in creating a wine which has led to many an embarrassing moment at blind tastings when compared to received “great” wines, first growths included. Roc de Cambes has a wow factor in spades.
Tenuta di Trinoro
We ought to set the scene for Andrea Franchetti’s vision and waywardness. His family have similarly been visionaries across centuries, a noble, Italian family of Jewish origin, related by marriage to the Rothschilds. Andrea’s uncle was the American artist Cy Twombly, Hemmingway was a family friend. In his early years, Andrea cycled and hitchhiked to Afghanistan – a hint of his intent always to take the road less travelled. He had fallen in love with the wines and modus operandi of Bordeaux and there he learned of the importance of terroir.
Somewhat incongruously it was this understanding of Bordeaux which led him to start a vineyard from nothing but scrubby woodland in the Val d’Orcia, Southern Tuscany. There were no access roads and certainly no vines but that all seems to have had little bearing on Andrea’s determination to produce wine on this site, from scratch, from Bordeaux varietals, in the main. Andrea knew instinctively that Trinoro would be a fabulous site both in its geographical positioning and in its soil, which is rich in marine deposits and, under his stewardship, so it has proved.
Tertre Roteboeuf
This is his property in the Côtes de Bourg, a vineyard reminiscent of Tertre Roteboeuf, being as it is, a natural amphitheatre with a perfect aspect overlooking the Gironde River. It comprises fourteen hectares of old vines planted on the most highly reputed slope of the Côtes (les Croutes), where the heat of the sun on the slope is regulated by the effects of the estuary and cool clay/limestone soils. This makes for regular growth and wonderfully ripe, concentrated fruit.
Essentially François Mitjavile’s approach was to coax optimal quality in a region with great, but often unrealised, potential. He made Roc de Cambes flourish. With his son Louis (now owner of L’Aurage) and his daughter Nina (increasingly at the helm) his experience and philosophy from St Emilion come into play here. Together they control vigour and pick only when the grapes are super-ripe. They have succeeded in creating a wine which has led to many an embarrassing moment at blind tastings when compared to received “great” wines, first growths included. Roc de Cambes has a wow factor in spades.