Château de Sours is an estate in the Bordeaux region of France producing Bordeaux AOC wines. It was purchased in 1990 by Esme Johnson and his wife Sara. He had worked as a chartered accountant for Swires in Hong Kong. In 1981 he returned to the UK to purchase the Majestic wine retail chain. He sold this in 1989 and moved to France with his family a year later. Consulting oenologist Michel Rolland was hired and it was Rolland who created the estate’s successful Bordeaux AOC Rosé whose first iteration was made from juice bled from red grapes to give the latter more concentration. ‘The resulting 1000 cases  of rosé played an important role in establishing Château de Sours’ reputation,’ says Sue Jamieson (1995, p.32-34). The 1991 crop was 70% down due to a frost on 22 April 1991.

Bibliography

Sue Jamieson, ‘L’Invasion Anglaise,’ Wine Magazine, April 1995, p.32-34.