Dubourdieu and Dalla Cia create £250 Cape ‘first growth’

Bordeaux-based consultant Denis Dubourdieu has teamed up with winemaker Giorgio Dalla Cia, formerly of Meerlust, to create what is being touted as the 'First Growth of the Cape'.

G: hits the spot at £250

G is a new wine from the winery 4G. The initial 2010 blend of 3410 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet Franc is selected from twelve Western Cape vineyards of 10-20 years of age with which the 4G owners have long-term contracts.

Dubourdieu and Dalla Cia are part owners of the winemaking enterprise, and are pricing bottles at a ‘first growth’ level of US$350 or £250.

Cape Klein and Wineservice Ltd are the UK distributors, with none yet for the US. The Swiss management team are private wine enthusiasts selling into Switzerland both through their company and a Basel merchant.

An initial ‘Private Preview 2009’ has been made available to ‘friends and family only’. A second wine, The Echo of G 2010, is soon to be released at 40% of the price of G.

Philipp Axt, CEO of 4G, told Decanter.com that ‘contrary to some other luxury wines, we do not face the pressure of having big quantities to sell, so we are in the comfortable position to build the market slowly and carefully [and] allocate the wine strategically to be present in the most important markets.’

Master Sommelier Frank Kämmer will be launching G and Echo of G on March 24 at the German trade fair Prowein with a UK launch expected in June.

The US dates are yet to be determined though Axt has confirmed Florida and New York as the locations.

Written by David Furer