When Lucie Parker joined the team at Jeroboams in 2021, after heading up on-trade sales at Liberty Wines, her brief was to grow the trade side of the business. With several businesses under the Jeroboams name including retail, en primeur, private sales and broking, Parker realised the trade business needed a clear identity. To succeed, her strategy was simple, “to do a good job in trade, we need to give [customers] what they want, and that is exclusive wines, that no one else has in the market.”
Lucie Parker - out to crack London's on-trade scene
To that end, Parker started to fine tune the portfolio. She points out to me how much the range has changed over the last few years, particularly the New World portfolio, with new producers from Australia, South Africa, Argentina and California. Additions were made, Parker says, by listening to what trade customers were asking for and trying to fill any gaps in the portfolio with suitable producers, whether that was reds from the Loire and Portugal, or lower alcohol wines to address duty concerns.
Because the portfolio already included high quality producers from Bordeaux and Burgundy, smaller tweaks were needed in those ranges, although the buying team, headed up by Peter Mitchell MW, continues to look for smaller, quality châteaux. Parker points to Boisson Frère et Soeur, a famous name in Meursault which offers great value Mâcon-labelled wines, as an example of what Jeroboams Trade does well, “offering value when we can” while ensuring excellence.
How does she see the business moving forward, I ask? Parker says Jeroboams will continue building on this range, adding to it where needed, and growing within the on-trade space.
"That's the bit we'd really love to crack," she explains, referring to the London on-trade sector. "I think we can be honest and say people really know us mainly as a retailer, so changing perceptions and getting people to understand that we have this amazing range of trade wines is our goal."
The strategic portfolio expansion is evident in the calibre of producers recently brought on board, several of which were showcasing their wines at the tasting. These are my picks of the newer additions to the portfolio:
Kaesler
Based in Barossa Valley, Australia, Kaesler was a new addition to the portfolio in 2024. As well as a zingy, unoaked Old Vine Semillon 2024 with clean, fresh starfuit, and a juicy GSM blend - Reach for the Sky 2021 - the range includes Barossa Valley Shiraz at different price points. The Bogan Shiraz 2021 is fresh and juicy while the single vineyard Alte Reben Shiraz 2016 from iron-rich soils is meatier and more savoury. The jewel in the crown is the Old Bastard Shiraz 2020 made from a tiny block of 85 bush vines known as ‘the old bastards’, planted when the Kaesler family first founded the estate in 1893: concentrated, dark-fruited Shiraz with savoury notes and spice.
Port Phillip Estate
Port Phillip Estate is based in Mornington Peninsula, Australia, and focuses on sustainable farming and low intervention winemaking. The Quartier range of wines, including the Quartier Pinot Gris 2023 full of fleshy, ripe fruit with good acidity, and a rounded texture, use estate grown and grower fruit for typical regional expression, while single vineyard wines come from Red Hill and Balnarring. Red Hill Chardonnay 2022 has a slightly flinty reductiveness on the nose with ripe fruit and a deliciously fresh acidity while Balnarring Pinot Noir 2022 shows intense fruit from sedimentary soils.
Achaval Ferrer
Proud of their centennial vines, Achaval Ferrer produces both blends and single varietal wines from high altitude sites in Luján de Cuyo, Argentina. Quimerino Blanco 2023 is a blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc with Roussanne and Marsanne bringing some depth, while Quimerino Tinto 2023 is an easy drinking Pinot Noir, Syrah and Malbec blend with a touch of Sauvignon Blanc for freshness. Finca Bella Vista 2019 is an intensely perfumed single vineyard Malbec from ungrafted old vines planted in 1910, with dark berries, spiced cherries and ripe tannins.
Mouchão
A brand-new addition to the portfolio, Mouchão from Alentejo in Portugal is a sustainable family estate with vineyards dating back to the 1850s. Mouchão 2016 is their flagship wine, a blend of 80% Alicante Bouschet and 20% Trincadeira, aged in very large oak with further time in bottle. Black olives, sweet spices and chai are layered over dark berries, with great potential for further ageing. Rafael Tinto 2021 is a fresh, herbal and easy drinking red blend of Trincadeira, Aragonês, Castelão and Alicante Bouschet.
Domaine de la Chapelle
Added to the portfolio to fill a need for Loire reds, Domaine de la Chapelle is a new biodynamic producer in Chinon. Les Jouers 2023 is an elegant Cabernet Franc from a blend of plots on sandy and gravelly soils, fermented and aged in concrete to keep crunchy red fruit. Les Lutteurs 2023 from chalky soils shows deeper darker fruit and chalkier tannins after 15 months in large French oak vats.
Valentino Butussi
Filippo Butussi, winemaker and oenologist at the family winery, Valentino Butussi, showed me a few of their wines from Friuli Colli Orientali. Kret Friulano 2023 is delicately aromatic and peachy; Kret Pinot Grigio Ramato is a lovely copper colour from light skin contact, giving ripe pears and a hint of grip; Ribolla Gialla 2023 is floral with yellow fruit and subtle nuttiness.
Bakkanali
Bakkanali is a new project in Tuscany founded by friends Ugo Fabbri and Sebastian Nasello. Vineyards are planted on the slopes of Mount Amiata, a dormant volcano in Southern Tuscany, farmed biodynamically and wines made with minimal intervention. More like a light red than a rosé, Bakkanali Rosa 2023 is juicy and vibrant with iron-rich minerality and a light tannic grip; Bakkanali Rosso Sangiovese 2022 is a fresh red with crunchy red cherries and a hint of spice.
Harrow & Hope
Jeroboams have stocked Harrow & Hope from Marlow in Buckinghamshire for a number of years, but have only recently taken on the vintage wines and are now their exclusive trade partner. NV Brut Reserve No. 8 is based on the 2019 vintage - a toasty sparkling with rounded acidity and complexity from reserve wines aged in oak; the Pinot Meunier 2019 shows lovely floral and raspberry notes with a creamy palate.
Cattleya Wines
Bibiana González Rave, founder and winemaker, brought her international winemaking experience to California to start Cattleya Wines in 2011, with the entry Alma de Cattleya label added in 2016. Alma de Cattleya Chardonnay 2022 from Sonoma County is a bright and elegant Californian Chardonnay with texture from lees ageing in neutral French oak; Alma de Cattleya Pinot Noir 2022 is an approachable fruit forward vintage with earthy undertones. The more structured Cattleya Belly of the Whale Pinot Noir 2021 has darker fruit and with 85% new oak will reward ageing.
