So who would I choose to judge the Franschhoek Wine Writers Competition now that Ton and Tim have been ruled out? Ideally, it would have to be someone who can understand the languages most of the entries are written in (English and Afrikaans) as it’s fiendishly difficult to translate richly idiomatic winespeak. In fact some English speakers in Franschhoek complain they can’t understand me. Someone like James Espey, who lives in London, will do. James is the old fashioned smous behind the world’s most exclusive whisky company, The Last Drop Distillers Limited, which is about to be transformed into the world’s most exclusive spirits company when it launches a 60 year old Cognac onto the market later this year.

James Espey and his next treasure

James is a marketing whizz and was the chairman of Chivas Regal who dreamed up Chivas 18 year-old, hailed as one of the hottest brands in Asia last year. I caught up with Cape Town born James at BICCCS, Fortunato Mazzone’s Cape Quarter beachhead, this morning for some hair of the dog and a croissant with provolone. James had spent Sunday afternoon at Mike van Zyl’s house in Newlands, one of the 80 or so employees of Gilbey’s in the 70s and 80s, at a company reunion.

The company was “built from a bit of wire and some string but managed to give those two giants, Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery and Distillers Corporation a run for their money.” Although Distell, the merger of the two behemoths, won yesterday, sinking James with a bottle of Amarula. “I loved it yesterday, but have revised my opinion this morning.”

“In the middle of Apartheid, we invented a brand in Stellenbosch called Malibu, which today shifts 3.3 million cases and must be worth £2 billion. We also invented the world’s first jug wine, Carafino and Peter Fleck’s Cape Velvet Cream was the first wine-based cream liqueur. We had a true creative culture: we just went out and did things. No committees. Committees kill innovation.” No wonder James has been invited to speak on innovation at a major whisky conference next month in Edinburgh.

The aged Cognac was sniffed out by Tom Jago, an 84 year old legend in the spirit world, who tracked down “a seriously old lady and her daughter who had some barrels of old family spirit, 5Km from Cognac.” The ladies had a dislike of large companies so when Tom and James raved about the 1950 vintage – the natal year of Celia, James’ wife – the ladies sold them the lot: 480 bottles. And what a fruity surprise it turned out to be: Christmas pud on the nose and rich, ripe figs on the palate with an aftertaste that stretches all the way to Greenpoint. As James said “whisky and Cognac get blurred after so long in wood” but to this enthusiastic amateur, the preeminence of distilled wine over beer, was in no doubt.

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