Napa, California | October 27, 2020 | Vinfolio, one of the country’s leading fine-wine companies, is pleased to announce its partnership with iconic Australian producer Clarendon Hills from McLaren Vale. In this partnership, Vinfolio is named the exclusive U.S. importer of Clarendon Hills’ wines, which includes the winery’s flagship Syrah, the lush and concentrated Astralis. The program will begin by making available six vintages of Astralis—including the 100-point 2015 vintage—as well as 23 more single-vineyard Syrah, Grenache, and Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings on Vinfolio’s online marketplace. To see the selection and learn more about Clarendon Hills, please visit vinfolio.com/shop-wine/
“The fine wine market in the U.S. is quickly evolving. Vinfolio’s unique business model, proprietary technology platform, and large membership base of top collectors makes us the perfect fit for overseas producers looking to access the market in new and innovative ways,” says Don St. Pierre, Vinfolio’s Executive Chairman. “For a top producer like Clarendon Hills, forging deep, direct, and long-lasting connections with the end consumer is priority No. 1. In the collectible fine wine space, we can facilitate that better than anyone.”
“It’s an incredible honor to be working with the Bratasiuk family to represent Clarendon Hills in the U.S.,” adds Adam Lapierre, Vinfolio’s President. “For nearly three decades, they have demonstrated an unwavering focus on quality and, as a result, consistently produce wines that rank among the world’s greatest.” Lapierre continues, “The relationship is a great fit, because their goals for the U.S. align perfectly with our strategy—direct-to-consumer access oriented exclusively towards top collectors and complemented by very targeted, high-quality distribution to the right trade partners in key markets.”
Likewise, Clarendon Hills is excited to announce U.S. distribution in partnership with Vinfolio. “After waiting 10 years on the sideline in the U.S.,” Clarendon Hills CEO Roman Bratasiuk says, “I am today thrilled to announce a brand new, modern U.S. DTC strategy, coupled with high-quality distribution; we are finally now in a position to reintroduce our hand made wines to the U.S. market.” Bratasiuk continues, “For many years, I have admired what Vinfolio Executive Chairman Mr. Don St. Pierre had achieved in business. His prophetic vision for the Chinese wine market and business nous speaks volumes. To be now officially partnered with Vinfolio, headed up by the highly insightful President Adam Lapierre, MW, is quite simply a dream come true.”
Vinfolio transforms how the fine wine community buys, sells, manages, and enjoys fine wine with advanced cellar management technology, fine wine storage facilities, and a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform. Combined, these systems empower the fine wine enthusiast to acquire highly collectible wine directly from producers, purchase and sell wine from Vinfolio’s collector marketplace, stay on top of every bottle in their cellar, and engage with other fine wine collectors, industry influencers, and winemakers—all in one seamless experience.
One of Australia’s most regarded names in fine wine, Clarendon Hills strives for purity and perfection in its vineyard and varietal expressions. “We are dedicated to single-vineyard terroir wines that rival the best in the world,” the estate says. Clarendon Hills’ Premier Grand Cru Syrah bottling, Astralis, was first blended in 1991 and has since earned top score after top score from world-renowned critics. Nine Astralis vintages have achieved the nearly perfect scores of 98 and 99 points by Wine Advocate over the years, and two vintages—2015 and 2010—have stood above the rest earning perfect, 100-point ratings. “2015 Astralis Syrah is destined to become a McLaren Vale legend,” Wine Advocate’s Joe Czerwinski says of the 2015 vintage, in particular, which will be available through Vinfolio.
Vinfolio is majority-owned by Executive Chairman Don St. Pierre Jr. and his business partner and good friend Allan Warburg, co-founder and co-CEO of Bestseller Fashion Group China. St. Pierre is the recipient of numerous wine industry accolades, including being named number seven on Decanter magazine’s 2011 Top 50 global wine industry power players and selected by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as the 2011 International Man of the Year. In 2012, the French government awarded St. Pierre Jr. the degree of Knight in the French Ordre du Mérite Agricole, and in 2015, he was appointed as a member of the supervisory board of Vinexpo Overseas. Vinfolio’s ownership also includes Jean-Michel Valette, who chairs the Education and Examination Board (EEB) of the Institute of Masters of Wine and is former chairman of Robert Mondavi Corporation and Peet’s Coffee, Jon Moramarco, former CEO of Constellation Brands, and Steve Case, founder of AOL and co-founder at venture capital firm Revolution.
