Publishing guru uncorks 'wine Amazon'

Publishing guru uncorks 'wine Amazon'
WILLIAM LYONS

MAJESTIC Wine's founder has teamed up with one of Britain's top publishers to launch what they hope will become the "Amazon" of the wine world.

Scots duo Esme Johnstone and David Campbell, who masterminded the resurgence of the Everyman Library, the publisher of reprinted literary classics, say their new venture, fromvineyardsdirect.com, will undercut supermarkets and the high street by up to 20%.

The site, which offers a niche selection of fine wines direct from the vineyard, cuts out expensive overheads such as stock and retail premises.

Johnstone, who sold Majestic Wine in 1989 for £15m and is now a director of the Bordeaux wine Chateau de Sours, says the idea came to him because he had seen what the potential of the internet had done to book buying and was annoyed at having to fork out more than £12 for decent Chablis.

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