Page 40 - France Product Portfolio

Cockburns of Leith

The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France might have started as a military alliance but it became
synonymous with a long-established friendship founded on the Scots love of French wine.

Many Scots fought as mercenaries for the French, and in return Scottish merchants were offered
privileges, including freedom from Normandy taxes and direct access to Vine-growers to select the
choice of Bordeaux’s finest wines – a privilege which was eagerly protected for hundreds of years, much
to the annoyance of English wine drinkers who received an inferior product.

The trade survived the Reformation, the Union of the Parliaments and during the Jacobite era
nationalists took to Claret as opposed to Port as a sign of independence.

More often than not a blind eye was turned as the wine was smuggled through Leith and rolled up the
streets to the New Town where Edinburgh folk kept drinking the Claret that had become part of Scots
culture.

Cockburns of Leith Claret still comes ashore today and, given the undoubted quality of Bordeaux wine
and our historic attachment to it, will surely always take a place in Scotland’s cellars, restaurants and
bars.

Each year Wine Importers source a parcel of Bordeaux labelled under their famous Cockburns of Leith
name, Scotland’s oldest wine merchant established in 1796 and one-time purveyor of wines to Sir Walter
Scott and Charles Dickens.

Reserve Vintage Claret

A soft supple blend of Merlot, Cabernet and
Cabernet Franc. A classically styled claret with

blackcurrant fruit, fine, firm tannins and hints of
vanilla and spice