Bruce Jack brings life back to Flagstone

Western Cape winemaker Bruce Jack told the drinks business that he was bringing the life back to the Flagstone brand with repackaging, range extensions, a new website and a wine club for the UK, to complement the reinstatement of the Flagstone Club in South Africa.

Speaking at ProWein on Tuesday, he said that the former Constellation-controlled brand had been “corporatised” but that he would “get back to doing quirky stuff” now he had been give “free rein to bring Flagstone back to what it should be” – explaining that he had been given back management of Flagstone after Champ Private Equity bought Constellation Wines Australia and Europe in December.

He admitted that Flagstone would have a new website “up and running” by the end of April incorporating “funky videos” that he hopes will turn viral. He also said that he will be sending out weekly newsletters to those who register and there would be a “special section” on the new site for those who pay £75 to become Flagstone Club members in the UK, entitling them to wine and invitations to events.

Jack also told db that he had made a bottle-fermented sparkling Sherry-style fortified wine at the Flagstone winery, and described this unusual and experimental wine as “just the tip of the weird iceberg,” adding that “the fun is back”.

Summing up of the Flagstone brand, he said, “I don’t think the wine has ever been better but we are not engaging with customers and so we are not helping the retailers move the wine off the shelf; I want to start communicating.”

Patrick Schmitt, 31.03.2011