It was nine years ago, on Feb 27, 2007 to be exact, when I was first invited to 73 Harbour Street by Dianna Smith, then a brand development manager for Grace Foods & Services, to review some wines that they were considering importing. This was not GraceKennedy’s first foray in the wine business, but that’s for another story. Fast-forward to January 2016, and after years of building and development, GraceKennedy has officially launched Harbour Wines & Spirits at a most fitting venue, the iconic waterfront on the Kingston Harbour.

PORTFOLIO

The Harbour Wines & Spirits wine portfolio is carefully curated and is growing. They have about 100 different wines from 10 of the major wine-producing countries, albeit very ‘new world’ dominant with over 75 per cent coming from the Americas. I suspect this reflects the market demand for ‘value’ wines, and Chile and Argentina are among the leaders in this category of wines. Popular brands in the portfolio that are flying off the shelves include wines by Trivento, Viña Maipo, Ménage à Trois, Cavit, Chateau Ste Michelle and Sutter Home, one of the biggest wine brands in the USA.

WINES FOR EVERY OCCASION AND BUDGET

Harbour Wines’ growing portfolio offers everyday wines, premium wines and also luxury wines, with wines priced below J$900 per bottle and at every price category up to J$9000.00 per bottle. So there are fun, party wines and wines for serious contemplation or executive gift giving. While it depends ultimately on the GraceKennedy strategy, from my vantage point huge gaps exist in the Old World portfolio, especially France. I do understand the newbie wine drinkers’ preference for the ‘sweeter’, more fruit- forward, generic-tasting style of wine currently sweeping the industry, but there are so many more styles of wine available that someone needs to be introducing them to our market.

ICON WINES

While there is some debate in the market about the use of the term ‘Icon wine’, the generally accepted explanation is that it is the flagship luxury wine of very, very high quality of a winery. The grapes that make this wine are usually the very best produced by the winery that were planted in the best locations and given the highest possible level of care. This can be a very expensive operation, hence why these wines are usually very expensive.

I had the good fortune to sample not one but two of the icon wines in the Harbour portfolio. The Trivento Eolo is made from 100 per cent Malbec grapes from 100-year-old vines in Mendoza, Argentina. The name, “Eolo” was chosen in honour of “Aeolus”, the Greek god of the winds, and is a tribute to the three winds that blow across the Mendoza landscape, nurturing the growth of the vines. The wine was deep purple, ripe cherry and dark fruit on the nose. A full- bodied wine, rich round tannins, lively dark red fruit with a long lingering finish. The other luxury wine was Chile’s Viña Maipo Alto Tajamar. Their flagship wine is a delicious jammy wine made with Syrah 92 per cent, Cabernet Sauvignon eight per cent. On the nose fruity notes of fresh blackberries, cherries, and sweet spices such as cloves and cinnamon accompanied by delicate aromas of tobacco and cocoa, on the palate, as the winermaker says — flavourful and expansive with firm smooth tannins. If I had to choose on the spot, it would be Alto Tajamar.

Harbour Wine & Spirits is off to a great start, ably supported by the team of Paul Hamilton, commercial manager, Denzie Sinclair, national sales manager, Colette Morrison-Chen, sourcing manager, Marilyn Bennett, wine consultant, Shanique Ellington, sales and marketing executive and Sharice Fernander, brand manager.

Christopher Reckord – Information Technology Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Instagram: @chrisreckord Twitter: @Reckord