Esme's involvement in wine started at an early age when his father gave him a thimble full of wine at dinner with the promise of a full glass if he could get the vintage right—this not only encouraged a keen interest in wine but also in statistics and all things commercial.
After studying at the London School of Economics, qualifying as a chartered accountant and a spell in Hong Kong, Esme founded Majestic Wine, which revolutionized wine buying in the UK. This new format of wine warehouses with young enthusiastic staff and a totally cosmopolitan range of wines was a huge success and spread very quickly.
Esme sold his interest in Majestic in 1989 and moved to Château de Sours in Bordeaux where he created critically-acclaimed wines including "probably the best Rosé in the world."
Esme is now based in England where he is a director of FromVineyardsDirect, a UK-based, on-line wine retailer, and a consultant to Noble Rot Ltd, a fine wine trading company as well as to other wine and beverage related businesses. He is also a founding director of Pomegranate Wines in Australia.
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