VUE

Where did the idea to start making and marketing rosé come from and how did you land on the name? Jesse: Dad was always a big rosé drinker, so it was always around. When I was old enough to drink, I joked that I drank more rosé than water and coined the name "Hampton water". One late night I got home from a night out and my Dad offered me a sip of what he called "pink juice." I made fun of him for calling it that and said it flowed so freely it was Hampton water. A lightbulb went off that this was a great name and the conversation turned to making a rosé named Hampton Water. My dad encouraged us (Jesse's friend and now business partner Ali Thomas) to figure it out if we were serious, to bring the plan back to him. Ali and I spent the next nine months calling around to learn how this whole wine making process works talking to importers, makers, marketers, everyone we could think of. We brought it back to dad fully vetted. He was excited all over again and said let's figure out how to make it real. Jon: I really thought that was a great name. I said, go and take that degree you got from Notre Dame and put it to good use. He and his college roommate worked on it for several months and came back with a plan and I thought it was really viable. It's been a fun four years. We have a great product. Winemaking beat making tube socks. It was a lot better than soap. The guy had an idea and it was something I enjoy. We saw a lot of runway-- you want to be the first in it not the last. We didn't want to jump on anyone else's bandwagon. P roduced in the South of France, the rich and fruity wine, a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Cinsault that's aged in oak barrels, has captured the attention of the wine industry. The latest vintage was awarded a Gold Medal at the Best Wine of the World competition. That means 190,000 wine professionals from 115 countries loved this rosé. Past vintages have scored just as well. Wine Spectator has given the wine a 90 point rating for three years running and the 2017 vintage was named a Top 100. It has also been awarded Market Watches Best New Product Wine and Wine Enthusiast gave it a Wine and Culture Wine Star Award. It's little wonder that Hampton Wine is also the most followed wine brand on social media, @hamptonwater, with more than 325 thousand followers. VUE recently sat down with Jesse and Jon to find out how the wine came to be, what's next, and what it's been like to work together to bring this dream to life.

• Cover