Jasper Morrison and Marc Newson are world-renowned product designers. It would be surprising to hear that these two are also passionate about winemaking. "Ormiale," a Bordeaux winemaker based in France, was founded in 2007 by Fabrice Domercq and his old friend Jasper Morrison, and in January of this year, Marc Newson joined the team, according to an announcement on their official website. Fabrice, Jasper, and Marc are all longtime friends, all designers, and have known each other for 30 years. Fabrice's motivation for starting winemaking came when his mother bought a small house with a vineyard. Fabrice, a longtime wine lover, was driven by a desire to try making wine himself. Impulsively, he called his old friend Jasper, and "Ormiale" was soon launched. Located in the northern Entre-Doumer region of France, the estate produces two types of grapes: a 13-year-old Merlot and a 50-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon, hand-picked without the use of herbicides. Each wine is named with a vintage, such as "Ormiale 2007." While some are currently sold out, all wines up to "Ormiale 2011" are available. Marc Newson, a new member of the family, has been appearing on labels since the 2011 vintage. According to Fabrice, while the 2009 (already sold out) and 2010 were mature vintages, the 2011 is more delicate and balanced than previous releases. It takes more than three years from harvest to release, and the next release, "2012," is already in the works, so we can't wait.

Ormiale wines will be participating as representative Bordeaux wines at Vini, Biere, Ribelli 2015, a Belgian festival that will be held from November 28th and will feature a selection of wines and beers, alongside Chateau Le Puy and Clos Puy Arnaud, which are also very popular in Japan.


This article has been translated and written with permission from (Source: http://www.ormiale.com/).