Australian drinkers of small producer French wines might be interested in a new development initiated by Jean-Paul Prunetti of the classic Paris bistro-style Melbourne restaurant France-Soir (which for reasons that entirely escape me rates but a single hat in The Age newspaper’s Good Food Guide). For many a year France-Soir has boasted one of the best wine lists in Australia, with a widely ranging selection of small French domaine wines. Furthermore, they’re priced so you can afford to drink them, not just look on with envy as others do. The new website www.jpws.com.au is the beginnings of Prunetti’s web-based off-premise sales vehicle for the wines he imports directly himself. There’s already a small range of wine in stock, with an indented offer on its way. It is early days for this new business, so don’t expect too much too soon. Good operators, however, are worth supporting, and Jean-Paul Prunetti is certainly one of them. On another tack, The Hess Group has nearly bought all the shares in Peter Lehmann Wines Ltd not owned directly by Peter Lehmann himself. The current holding is a shade under 85% of the business.
