At the London Wine Competition, Paradise Rescued — a small-scale wine producer in the Bordeaux region of France — won two gold medals.

Paradise Rescued is a niche-focused, high-quality producer with just less than one hectare under production – probably the smallest vineyard in Bordeaux. 

Following the company’s success at this year’s competition, David Stannard, the owner of the business, was interviewed to get his opinion of the competition and to understand the impact of being a gold winner.

Image: David Stannard with Elodie Brisson (centre).

Company background

Paradise Rescued was founded in 2010 with a mission to sustain and maintain the rural heritage of the small village of Cardan, 25km southeast of Bordeaux, to produce fine organic Bordeaux wines. 

Starting with a small block of Cabernet Franc vines managing the vineyard through organic viticulture (they were certified organic in 2016), Paradise Rescued developed its Block One varietal Cabernet Franc brand, which was quickly established as a local varietal benchmark.

In 2011, a second vineyard was added, which has become the home of Merlot production. The small section of 67-year-old vines was saved and the remainder of this block was replanted with Merlot, plus a small section of Cabernet Franc. 

Today, this vineyard produces the Paradise Rescued Block Two Merlot Cabernet Franc wine and with the launch of the 2019 vintage wines, Block Three varietal Merlot will be added to the portfolio.

Image: London Wine Competition Gold Winner, Block One and Block Two.

Awareness of the competition before entering

Paradise Rescued entered the London Wine Competition for the first time in 2023, winning two silver medals. Their first entry followed a strong sales push from the organizers of the London Wine Competition and a desire on David’s part to re-start showing their wines after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reasons for entering

The owner entered their wines in competitions as a way of benchmarking their quality — both locally and globally. This helps them to set pricing and get objective feedback on the quality rating of their wines. Positive feedback is also a great way to recognize the hard work of the team at Paradise Rescued. 

Impact on the company on winning the awards

The biggest impact of winning the awards is having an independent assessment of the quality of the wine that they can present to their customers. Having already won several business and wine awards, the gold awards further reinforce the level of excellence that they have achieved and show. The feedback from the judges also helps them to look at ways to improve their small niche brand.

How has the award been communicated?

The company communicates its successes directly to its customers through our regular newsletters and to the wider wine world, through various social media platforms.

Overall impression of this competition compared

Paradise Rescued has entered three or four different competitions over the last few years. The owners ranked the London Wine Competitions in the middle of that small sample. 

The owner reported that some other competitors have higher levels of customer service, stronger visual award certification, and branding, plus they offer a much higher level of post-result media.

Which markets would you like to increase awareness and distribution?

Image: Vision 2030; Source: Paradise Rescued

The vineyard produces around 2,500 bottles per year and there are no second labels. Their main markets are private customers and high-quality niche hospitality venues, predominantly selling into the French and European markets, as well as Australia. They also have clients in several countries around the globe.

Looking to the future, Paradise Rescued is focusing on its Vision 2030 document, which includes projects for regenerative viticulture, soil enhancement, niche brand customer management, and continual business improvement.