Founding Directors
John Hunt
John made his first wines from elderflowers and oak leaves in large glass demijohns in the attic of his parents home in Berkshire in 1978. The results were under-whelming but a lifelong passion was born.
His first exposure to serious winemaking came in 1984 when he spent the summer chasing balloons around Burgundy and the Loire Valley before going off to London University to study economics.
After graduation, he started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble and moved on to become a head of marketing at Kraft Jacobs Suchard before leaving to establish three successful new ventures.
The first, Seattle Coffee Company, was a chain of espresso bars which his co-founders built up to 85 stores and sold to Starbucks in 1998; the second, Syzygy, is an e-business consultancy which floated on the German stock exchange in Summer 2000; and the third, Obongo, was a software company acquired by AOL Time Warner in Summer 2001.
Esme Johnstone
Esme's involvement in wine started at an early age when his father gave him a thimble full of wine at dinner with the promise of a full glass if he could get the vintage right—this not only encouraged a keen interest in wine but also in statistics and all things commercial.
After studying at the London School of Economics, qualifying as a chartered accountant and a spell in Hong Kong, Esme founded Majestic Wine, which revolutionized wine buying in the UK. This new format of wine warehouses with young enthusiastic staff and a totally cosmopolitan range of wines was a huge success and spread very quickly.
Esme sold his interest in Majestic in 1989 and moved to Château de Sours in Bordeaux where he created critically-acclaimed wines including 'probably the best Rosé in the world.'
Esme is now based in England where he is an consultant to Noble Rot Ltd, a fine wine trading company, and an advisor Oriel Wines in the USA as well as to other wine and beverage related businesses.
Martin Krajewski
Martin made his first 'elderberry' wine aged 14 and although the results were not quite as expected, the dream was born.
Since then he has collected fine wines from around the world, with the strong emphasis on Bordeaux, where his true passion lies.
A founding partner of Firth Ross Martin Associates, in 1983 he went on to build the firm into one of the UK's leading specialist Executive Search Practices. Then in 1988 he led the Management Team responsible for the foundation of the Blomfield Group and subsequently became Group Chief Executive with responsibility for the strategic development and growth of the firm and its subsidiaries.
Today, Martin spends much of his time in Bordeaux, overseeing the further investment, development and expansion of the Château de Sours winemaking estate. He has been involved with the Château since 1997—joining the Board in 2003 and becoming Chief Executive in 2004.
David Fatches
Well-known Australian winemaker David has the experience of 20 combined vintages in Australia and France. He learnt his trade with the Olando Wyndham group, whilst studying at the respected Charles Sturt University. Then he went on to create the first three highly successful vintages at Millfield Wines before establishing his own successful consultancy.
David's signature winemaking style perfectly unifies tradition and technique and encourages expression of the wine's own 'terroir.' His concept of marrying the great Shiraz of McLaren Vale with the renowned Cabernet Sauvignon of the Coonawarra forms the basis of the first Songlines wine.
