Channel popping

There are more British winemakers trying their luck in Bordeaux than ever. But it's not always an easy life, as Hugo Rose explains

Pick up a bottle of claret at your local off-licence today and there's a fair chance that the producer's name will be Tom, Dick or Harry rather than the more traditional Guillaume, Pierre or Jacques.

Examples of estates owned and run by expat Brits include Château Méaume, which has been in the hands of Sue and Alan Johnson-Hill for almost 30 years and is listed by Majestic; and Château du Seuil, bought in 1988 by barrister Robert Watts and his consultant wife Sue and now run by their daughter and son-in-law. It is found in a number of UK restaurants.

For those new-lifers choosing Bordeaux, there is a bonus beyond the pleasure of tilling the soil and making wine—the château lifestyle. But acquiring a decent vineyard with a passable château doesn't come cheap and those who have done so have frequently relinquished frontline jobs in commerce or the professions.

Gavin Quinney of Château Bauduc—provider of house wines to Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein—came from IT sales. Martin Krajewski, who in 2004 bought a controlling interest in Château de Sours from Majestic founder Esme Johnstone, is reported to be selling the recruitment specialist he founded, Blomfield Group, to fund his new activities. The roll call of ex-City professionals is a long one.

But the presence of the British (and Irish) in the Bordeaux wine scene is far from new. There has been a business connection in one form or another with the region dating back to the period of British rule commencing under Henry II that lasted until the Battle of Castillon in 1453. Top châteaux Léoville Barton, Talbot, Palmer and Cantenac-Brown owe at least some of their identity to current or former English, Irish or Scottish proprietorship. Château Latour was fully in British corporate hands (Pearson) for two decades, Loudenne was owned by Gilbeys for much of the 20th century and Lascombes by brewer Bass.
Jancis Robinson estimates there to be around 1,000 "rosbifs" throughout France taking on the locals at their own game. Ridley Scott's film, A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe as the rogue trader who inherits a dreamy Provençal vineyard estate—together with the attentions of a glamorous bistro owner—may persuade yet more to join the grape race.

Newcomers should note that the living is far from easy. The recent recruits confirm that being British confers few favours except perhaps in the form of the sympathetic ear of British merchants and retailers. And more than a few have candidly agreed that starting with a large fortune—like the Crowe character—is perhaps the best basis for hoping to end up with a small one. It is easy to be so taken by the beauty of the château that rational business plans go over the balustrade.

But there are less risky ways of participating in the wine lifestyle. Bordeaux's reputation as a cosmopolitan region with a fondness for things British has encouraged immigration into other sectors, including wine merchants, wine educators, restaurateurs and hoteliers.

And Brits have regularly made it to the pinnacle of the Bordeaux trade. The spokesperson for the CIVB, the region's official wine marketing organisation, was for years Master of Wine Fiona Morrison, a Scot. She married the owner of one of Bordeaux's most recherché châteaux, the impossibly rare Le Pin.

Ex-brewing executive John Kolassa was formerly number two at Latour and now manages two classed growth estates on behalf of the Wertheimer family (of Chanel). And at the helm of the wine interests of insurer AXA, including the "super-second" Château Pichon-Longueville, is Christian Seely. Seely may have an INSEAD MBA, but he's British to the hand-tied knot of his bow tie.