Three Thirty Three Collection | France | Cricket
We met Graham through his winemakers, although our co-founder, Simon, actually played against him! He is an icon. One of the biggest names in English cricket but very humble and keen to sell his wines!
The Wine
Three Thirty Three is a collaboration between sporting great, Graham Gooch and Domaine Saint Hilaire, a historic vineyard in the Languedoc. Graham has served up a delicious trio – a crisp Viognier, beautifully pale Rosé and a smooth Shiraz. The quality fits well with his 333 scored against India all those years ago, and appropriate that his wines bear that incredible total on the front label.
In Graham’s own words:
“My three wines were selected and blended by me, the vineyard owner and cricket fan, Nick Kent and his Head Winemaker and reflect my own personal preference and taste in wines. The Viognier is in a light easy-drinking style and is bursting with exotic fruit flavours. The rosé is pale pink with delicate aromas of strawberry and raspberry. The Shiraz (or Syrah if you prefer) is full of dark fruit flavours with a warm and spicy richness from the ageing in French oak barrels. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!”
Sporting Connection
Graham Gooch is the most prolific run scorer top-class cricket has ever seen. After he retired in 1997, the statistician Robert Brooke calculated that he had scored 22,211 runs in List A cricket which, added to his 44,846 first-class runs, putting him ahead of Jack Hobbs. Graham’s most celebrated score was 333 in the first innings against India at Lords in 1990 which is one of the highest ever scores in test cricket and the highest at Lords.
Despite his legendary career, Graham remains a very down to earth guy and is a pleasure to work with. He continues to work as tirelessly as he always did for the good of the game including fundraising for his own scholarship programme which helps bring cricket to kids who otherwise would have no access to the game and also nurture young talented players – of whom Alastair Cook was a famous beneficiary.
The Winemaker Says
“I am delighted to be working with Simon, Chris and the Sporting Wine Club team. It was cricket and my tours to some of the world’s great wine-making regions that ignited my passion for wine and I am pleased to now be making my own contribution to the field! I am also very grateful for SWC’s support of my scholarship fund which aims to bring cricket to kids who would otherwise not have access to the game and also to nurture talented young players.”
-Graham Gooch
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