Somewhere in the Languedoc there's a vineyard for us...

It turned out to be Domaine Saint Hilaire.

For months these wine lovers had been in search of a vineyard. On an atypically cool and windy day in May 2002 they discovered Saint Hilaire, reputed for its excellent wines, situated in Herault in the South of France between the garrigue and the shores of the Mediterranean on a terroir in the Vins de Pays d'Oc. It was a case of love at first sight!

At the time Jonathan Rayner James was a QC and Recorder in London; Anne James had been the agent and business manager of the Monty Python team for many years and more recently executive producer of the Michael Palin Travel Series (from Pole to Pole through to Himalaya). Since 1994 they had owned and worked a small woodland estate in the Montagne Noire in the Languedoc.

They moved to Saint Hilaire at the end of 2002 and became immersed in updating the property and getting to know each parcel of the 50-hectare vineyard. They enlisted the help of Bruno Bernet, an agricultural engineer and oenologist, to advise on the restructuring of the vineyard and winery. In 2004 Master of Wine Sam Harrop became their consultant advising on winemaking and blending. With such help they were able to make structured and well-balanced wines, expressive of the terroir and their own taste and passion. They are also assisted by Chef de Cave Vincent Maurel and Commercial Administrator Grit Knebel and a team in the vineyard.

Since taking over the vineyard they have worked tirelessly with the sole objective of transforming Saint Hilaire into an internationally recognised Pays d'Oc Estate.