DRC owner brings Bordeaux blend from California to London

Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of DRC, has officially launched his Californian wines in the UK market with Corney & Barrow as exclusive agent.

The brand, called Hyde de Villaine, uses Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Hyde vineyard in Carneros, which is owned by Larry Hyde, cousin of de Aubert’s wife Pamela.

President of the joint venture, which begun in 2000, is Larry Hyde’s nephew Rick Hyde, while another de Villaine relation, Charles Fairbanks, is general manager.

Both were over last week at Corney & Barrow’s tasting in the Tower of London to show all four wines in the range to the UK trade as part of the new tie-up with the UK merchant, which is agent for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Explaining the origin of the Carneros project, Rick Hyde said: “Back in 1999 Aubert was at a tasting in Paris where he tasted a Chardonnay that caught his interest and it turned out to be Hyde designated vineyard Chardonnay – my family vineyard.”

“Then, at a dinner with my family Aubert approached us and said ‘I’d love to talk to you about starting a winery’. We were growers, and had never thought about starting a winery, but when Aubert de Villaine says he’s interested in starting a small, focused winery you listen, and it has been a wonderful experience over the last 10 years.”

Interestingly, the co-owner of DRC has not made a Pinot Noir from the Hyde vineyard in Carneros, despite the existence of fairly extensive plantings.

This is partly because grapes from this specific site are sold under long term contracts to a range of famous labels, but also because, in the words of Rick Hyde, “We wanted the venture to stand on its own and we did not want to elicit obvious comparisons to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – which is a national treasure of France.

However, he also said, “That’s not to say we won’t do a Pinot Noir in the future – but we wanted to build slowly and let Hyde de Villaine stand on its own two feet first.”

The project does mark Aubert’s first experience of Bordeaux varietals Cabernet and Merlot in the HDV Belle Cousine (alluding to the family connection between Larry Hyde and Pamela de Villaine) as well as the Rhone Valley’s Syrah.

“These are an exploration for Aubert,” said Hyde, “and the venture has been a lot of fun for him… he flies over 3-4 times per year.”

The range includes:

De La Guerra Chardonnay (from younger vines on the Hyde estate)
Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay (from vines planted in 1979)
Hyde de Villaine Belle Cousine (88% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Hyde de Villaine Syrah

Patrick Schmitt, 21.10.2010