Time, and the sheer cold inevitability of its progression, is what you grapple with as you get older. It was much on my mind as I rocked up to 40 Years of Jeroboams: A Fine Wine Birthday bash in the City’s Banking Hall amidst the chaos of a Tube strike.
40 Years of Jeroboams is being celebrated in Jeroboams stores as well as through the trade
I had a good excuse, mind you: through the haze of the past, back in 1985, I recall visiting a cute little cheese and wine shop that had opened up in Bute Street just down from my South Kensington flat. I wondered why it was called Jeroboams and why it wasn’t selling the Mateus Rose and Bulgarian Merlot that were all the rage? The reason was that the initial audience targeted by founder Peter Rich was London’s French community then centred on the nearby Lycée, after he recognised that London lacked the little wine and cheese shops enjoyed by Parisians.
Juliet Harbutt cheese masterclass at the 40 Years of Jeroboams event
The shop’s cheese offering, run by a Kiwi called Juliet Harbutt, who went onto become of the world’s best known cheese experts (aka the Big Cheese), was more than impressive by the standards of the day. At the 40 Years of Jeroboams tasting Harbutt gave a fascinating cheese and wine matching masterclass from which the main learning was… red wine seldom if ever goes well with cheese. Stick to whites and fortified.
A few months later in 1985 Jeroboams opened another store in Pont Street, near my parents’ house: still no Bulgarian wine, ‘natch, but lots of fascinating French stuff not readily available elsewhere, and friendly staff who had time even for a clueless neophyte like me.
“That company is going places,” I told my Dad, handing him – if memory serves – a bottle of Beaujolais.
As indeed it has; defying Schopenhauer’s dictum that “Time is that in which all things pass away,” Jeroboams has gone from strength to strength. There are now 10 shops in central London, including a very successful branch in Chelsea’s King’s Road which opened in 2023 with a large basement tasting and dining space for clients.
With almost 100 members of staff, Jeroboams boasts 47 countries in its portfolio and 90 grape varieties. Oh, and last year, alongside two million bottles of wine it sold 3700 kilos of cheese, demonstrating its determination to stay true to its origins in more ways than one.
Tasting through the 120 wines at 40 Years of Jeroboams
“We’ve pretty much got London covered, with shops from Muswell Hill down to Wimbledon in south London,” Jeroboams’ head of private sales Alex Turnbull told me just before the party got underway.
“How’s business? Well, there’s no escaping that for fine wine, in particular, this is a challenging market but we’re doing well despite that. Footfall is good because people see value in what we do, they know they can come to us for advice, and our stores are great places to explore.”
“What’s hot? The classics - Burgundy and Bordeaux- never go away but what’s really encouraging is that people are increasingly knowledgeable. And, because they trust us, they are prepared to try new things. English wine has really taken off – we have Harrow & Hope – as have lighter reds from places like the Loire.”
Peter Mitchell MW, celebrating 25 years at Jeroboams, reckons the wine industry has changed out of all recognition, the most important being the vast improvements in quality across the board but also the commoditisation of certain regions, notably Burgundy and Bordeaux which he decries.
“At the end of the day, wine is for drinking. When people start buying it for financial reasons, it becomes something else and I’m not sure in the long run that’s good for anyone. But if I had to pinpoint key changes over the last quarter century, I’d say the emergence of the New World as a serious quality region, and the vast improvements that have taken place in Italy, which is now one of our best performing areas.”
Wines organised by length of relationship
As befitting a 40th anniversary celebration, the 120 wines were being shown not by country or grape variety or style, but according to when the producer joined the Jeroboams family, which meant a fascinating walk back – and forwards – through Time.
1985
First off, the 1985 table and “a taste of the year we began”. Jeroboams had managed to source 1985 vintages from Bordeaux’s Domaine de Chevalier, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou and Château Montrose, the last two in jeroboams format, naturally. All three showed really well but for sheer character and persistence on the palate, my money would go to the Ducru-Beaucaillou – a smoky, spicy nose and fantastic complexity, this wine evolved as the evening ran on.
1985-2000
Moving on, the 1985-2000 section focused on “the foundations of our portfolio and producers we still count among our closest friends today,” including Castello dei Rampolla from Tuscany and Hunter’s from New Zealand. This lineup also included Moss Wood which is amazing given that Jeroboams were importing from Western Australia when most of the rest of the industry were focused on the likes of Lindemans, Rosemount and, yup, Jacob’s Creek.
I really enjoyed the Moss Wood Chardonnay 2023, which had lovely balance with a peach-apricot palate, but my choice from this batch goes to Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli 2019, a great vintage and already showing lots of tertiary flavours and complexity despite its relative youth.
2000-2005
The years 2000-2005 were “a time of gentle diversification” for Jeroboams with the company adding distinctive producers from France, Italy and New Zealand including Domaine Etienne Sauzet, Domaine de Belene, Maison Roche de Bellene and Domaine des Lambrays, all from Burgundy and, famously, Tenuta dell’Ornellaia.
For my favourite of the bunch I was first inclined to select the Ornellaia 2022, which was absolutely firing on all cylinders but… that would make me boring and predictable. My money here would go to Felton Road’s Calvert Pinot Noir 2023: Jeroboams was apparently the first to import this now iconic Central Otago producer and what a clever move that was: this was absolutely delicious, lots of soft berry fruit showing but with great complexity and a wonderful, long finish.
2005-2010
The years 2005-2010 were “an era of quiet experimentation” with Jeroboams picking up Pierro from Margaret River (the Chardonnay 2023 showing very well), Domaine Jean Sipp from Alsace and Casaloste from Tuscany. I loved the latter’s Don Vincenzo 2013, a full-on, spicy but well balanced IGT wine made from 100% Sangiovese, but my vote here is with the Diemersdal Private Collection 2022, a meaty but sophisticated Bordeaux blend from South Africa’s Coastal Region. A good example of how great the wines coming out of this country are these days, and incredible value at £25.95.
2010-2015
In 2010-2015, Jeroboams focused on wines “showing a fresher, more approachable style appealing to a broader audience” and most of the wines selected for this category were from Burgundy and Bordeaux, with a St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc 2023 from Napa thrown in, alongside Tuscan/ Maremma producer Morisfarms (a nice fresh Vermentinto 2024 and Avvoltore 2019, the Moris family’s delicious Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Syrah blend). My winner, unusually for me perhaps, was the Château Bélair-Monange 2014, a great Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from this fine vintage, showing really well despite the considerable competition.
2015-2020
2015-2020 was Jeroboams “most diverse period to date” and alongside Harrow & Hope were showing wines from Chile (Clos de Luz), Uruguay (Bodegas Bouza) the US (The Mascot and Dominus Estate from Napa) and Spain. This diverse bunch was pretty impressive but my vote goes to Costers de Priorat’s Clos Cypres 2022, an elegant, old vine blend from the iconic Catalan region. Quite full on but with perfect balance.
The above years were also a time of French Expansion, a “deliberate return to our roots” when Jeroboams expanded its footprint across the country; more Burgundy and Bordeaux including Domaine Antonin Guyon from the former, whose Mersault 1er Cru Les Charmes Dessus 2023 is my winner from this group, wonderfully rich, with a long fragrant finish.
Perhaps more importantly for Jeroboams’ overall direction, the years 2015-2020 were also “the golden years of Italian expansion,” taking on Castelfelder from Alto-Adige, Feudo Disisa and Terra Constantino from Sicily and La Bioca and Amalia Cascina from Piedmont, the latter showing the Langhe Rossese Bianco 2022, from the rarely seen Rossese Bianco grape, here showing as a richly textured wine, with suggestions of peach and apricot on the palate. My winner though comes from Tuscany: Podere Le Ripi’s delicious, incredibly long, rich Amore e Magia Brunello di Montalcino 2018, a classic.
Covid and beyond
The Covid years saw Jeroboams continue its diversification, with lockdown throwing up new opportunities for off trade sales as wine drinkers tried new regions and producers as a substitute for the travel they couldn’t undertake. Glass in hand, they could visit Adega de Moucho in Ribeiro for some Treixadura 2019 (intriguing, well worthwhile) or travel further afield to Oregon’s Averaen for a cool glass of Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2022 (classy, good balance). or brace themselves for a winery further afield such as Port Philip down under in Victoria (recommend the Quartier Pinot Noir 2023, well priced at just £22.95).
New signings continue… just before leaving I tried the stunning, full-on unreconstructed Old Bastard Shiraz 2020 from Kaesler in South Australia. But my very last wine was the delicious, dark berry and cherry licked Herdade do Mouchào in Alentejo from yep, 1985, appropriately enough – my favourite wine of the event. This really was spectacular – as if it wanted to remind you with every sip what 40 years really means.
So, what’s the future hold for Jeroboams? Another 40 years maybe? (although for myself and many others at this packed celebration, Time will have done its thing by 2065).
“Actually, why not,” says Jeroboams’ Alex Turnbull. “The things that have made us successful – our focus on family, on quality and integrity – are eternal things. Hopefully they will carry us further.”
Jeroboams is a commercial partner of The Buyer. To discover more about them click here.
