 |
|
|
|
Based in the beautiful market town of Saffron Walden in Essex, the award-winning Joseph Barnes Wines was founded in August 2005 by the husband and wife team of Charles and Chris Hardcastle who met at hotel school and share a passion for good food and excellent wine.
Their aim is to introduce you to interesting and unusual, handcrafted wines from small, independent chateaux and domaines from southern France and to this end make it their mission to constantly seek out new and exciting wines from the region that are rarely available elsewhere but still represent great value for money.
This means that you can purchase from Joseph Barnes Wines secure in the knowledge that we know each of our wines intimately and the estates from which they come. This is our guarantee of quality.
In September 2007 Joseph Barnes Wines was named‘Independent Specialist Wine Merchant of the Year’by Decanter Magazine & the World Wine Awards in recognition of their efforts in promoting wines from southern France.
We hope that you will enjoy browsing our selection of wines and that they give you as much pleasure as they have given us. There is no minimum order and cases can be mixed according to taste and budget. We deliver FREE within a 15 mile radius of Saffron Walden. Elsewhere, delivery within mainland Britain is just £11.75 per consignment irrespective of the amount ordered. We aim to deliver within 5 days but please bear in mind that some of our wines are limited in availability and will come directly from their respective estates so delivery may take a little longer.
In addition to our website, we also operate a small but well-stocked shop in the centre of Saffron Walden from where we also conduct regular wine tastings and locally-renowned food and wine matching dinners.
Charles Hardcastle
 A qualified hotel manager, Charles spent much of his studies training in such establishments as Fouquet’s restaurant in Paris, St.George’s Hotel in London and the Munich Hilton before being offered a year’s placement at the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich.
Upon his return to Britain Charles ran a large hotel in Bournemouth before joining the Inn Leisure Pub Group as area manager for central London.
In 1991 Charles formed his own auditing business aimed at the licensed trade and over the next 14 years his services became much sought-after by clients such as The BBC, Chelsea Football Club, the BAFTA Organisation and The London School of Economics.
In 2005, frustrated with the daily commute into London, Charles formed Joseph Barnes Wine Merchants (named after Charles’s grandfather) with the aim of importing award-winning wines from southern France.
His efforts were finally recognised in 2007 with the award of‘Best Independent Specialist Wine Merchant’of the year from the Decanter World Wine Awards.
When not in France or the Saffron Walden shop, Charles spends as much time as possible with his 2 teenage sons and maintains a keen interest in cooking, music and the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
Chris Hardcastle
 Born in Swansea, south Wales and also a qualified hotel manager, Chris trained in London, Devon and Munich, before joining the Movenpick organisation in Switzerland as a management trainee.
Returning to Britain in the mid-eighties, Chris continued her career with De Vere Hotels before being recruited to the management team of The Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth where she remained for 2 years before joining Ross Young Foods as regional sales manager for south east England.
After 2 years with Ross Young Chris took time off to help Charles launch his auditing business and start their family.
As Joseph Barnes Wines’ Company Secretary, Chris keeps the administrative side of the business in order and latterly has also been working as a "nose" (a.k.a. sensory panellist) for a multinational drinks company.
An excellent cook, Chris enjoys gardening and, along with her 2 sons, shares a passion for Swansea City Football Club and Welsh rugby.
|
|
|
|
 |