Recent Producer Visits

Here at Bancroft, we simply love seeing a lot of our wonderful producers. When they are in the UK, we like to make the very most of it with staff training and visits to as many clients as time allows. What this boils down to is tasting oodles of wine and then some committed lunching, wining and dining - it's a hard life for all involved! 

Last month it was all about South America...

Bodega Luigi Bosca

Alberto Arizu came to see us for one day only, so we had limited time to take him out and about. We had some staff training at Bancroft HQ before he headed out to a lunch at Lima Covent Garden with the Bancroft sales team and some of London's finest GMs/sommeliers. A flying visit maybe, but we put Alberto through his paces!

Staff training with Alberto

Alberto hosts a lunch at Lima Floral

Bouchon Family Wines

We welcomed Julio Bouchon for a couple of days of whizzing around London with our on-trade sales team. He popped by to give the team some training on the range, including a couple of new releases which were incredibly exciting, but alas, heartbreaking in their short supply. Firstly, the stunning Granito Semillon 2015 (pictured below), the absolute star of the show, grown on granite soils and the only white wine made from the coastal area in Maule, of which only one barrel is made. Not only did it make the whole Bancroft team 'oo' and 'aah' in rapture, but it also charmed Tim Atkin MW, leading to a score of 96 points and the accolade of 'white wine discovery of the year' in his Chile 2017 Special Report. Secondly, on the new releases front, is a very special Carignan, part of the 'Vigno' D.O.-style collaboration set up by viticulturists of 35-40 year old, dry farmed Carignan in Maule. Only 200 cases of the Bouchon Vigno Carignan 2015 was produced.

The Granito Semillon got the whole team (and social media!) talking!

Julio enjoys lunch at Gordon's Wine Bar

Bancroft Wines at the 2016 London Wine Fair

One of our favourite things to do here at Bancroft Wines is to hang out with our wine producers and once a year we get a chance to do that for three full days over the London Wine Fair.

Here's a summary of the show for us this year in pictures.... If you missed out on any of the wines or would like a sample, download, the tech sheets from our website, or get in touch with your Account Manager for more information. Thanks to all those who stopped by our stand to meet the faces behind the labels!

Bancroft's Johnny P and our favourite Mexican, Luis from Remirez de Ganuza (Rioja)

Newbie Trade Sales Simon Newbury and Christina from Lionello Marchesi (Chianti)

Bancroft's Wine fair Maestro, James Wainscott and Raf De Haan from Export Iberia showing off our recently much bolstered Spanish offering.

Bouchon picks up global accolades and is nominated as best Chilean Winery 2015 in the IWSC

We're delighted to communicate some happy news this week from Bouchon Family Wines that they've been announced as a finalist in this year's IWSC as Best Chilean Winery 2015. We'll keep our fingers crossed for them until the 26th November when the results will be announced - watch this space!

Bouchon Family Wines with Winerist

Last week we took part in Winerist's inaugural event at Wayra - the Telefonica-owned start-up accelerator here in London. Julio from Bouchon flew in early from Prowein to showcase his wines and brand new packaging. Read the Winerist interview with Julio here and their review of the evening here.

Bancroft's Sophie, James Ceppi, Tatiana from Winerist, Julio Bouchon and Maud from Champagne+Fromage

On the night we showed three wines from the Bouchon Family Wines range - now let's get geeky...

Chilean winery Viña Bouchon rebrands as “Bouchon Family Wines” and unveils updated portfolio with a new look.

“A winery without a past is like a wine without character. But it also needs a future.”

Viña Bouchon is a family owned winery headed up by winemaker Julio Bouchon and his children to produce premium wines made only with grapes from their own estates from the coastal dry lands of the Maule Valley in Chile.

The Bouchon winemaking story began in 1887 when Emile Bouchon settled in the Colchagua Valley in Chile having moved over from his native Saint Emilion in Bordeaux.

Today Julio Bouchon Senior and his children continue this long tradition of winemaking, with an updated look and feel.

In 2015 Viña Bouchon rebrands as “Bouchon Family Wines”, highlighting the Bouchon family’s heritage combined with a forward thinking attitude that aims to bridge past and future generations in both wine style and design. Above all else the Bouchon family values tradition and wine identity as paramount in their continued vinous legacy.

David Nieuwoudt (Cederberg, South Africa) in new project with Julio Bouchon in Chile

In the first joint venture of their kind, Julio Bouchon from Chile and David Nieuwoudt, winemaker at Cederberg - one of South Africa’s most prestigious wineries, have teamed up to produce a new wine.

The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc called ‘Longavi’ is the result of three years hard work between Julio Bouchon Lyon and David Nieuwoudt, internationally acclaimed winemaker from South Africa.

Produced at Bouchon’s winery in Chile, the wine is made from selected vineyard parcels in the Leyda Valley. It has a limited production of five thousand bottles and will be available from the Autumn of 2014 in the UK, exclusively through Bancroft Wines.

Julio, David and Julio Bouchon together