FromVineyardsDirect is the brainchild of David Campbell and Esme Johnstone. We offer a small range of delicious drinking wines, principally from France, Italy and Spain, imported direct from the growers and delivered to your door at the click of a mouse. We aim to be at least 20% cheaper than through traditional channels.

David Campbell

David was introduced to wine publishing in the late '70s and early '80s as International Sales Director at Mitchell Beazley, where Hugh Johnson's Wine Atlas and Pocket Wine Book and Michael Broadbent's Great Vintage Wine were best sellers.

As international publisher of Hachette in Paris (1982-90), he invented the Guide Hachette des Vins, France's no 1 selling wine book.

David is currently the publisher of Everyman's Library, which he relaunched in 1991. In 2007 he was awarded France's Legion d'Honneur.

E-mail David at david(at)fromvineyardsdirect.ie.

Esme Johnstone

Esme, whose mother is Irish, began his involvement in wine at an early age when his father gave him a thimble full of wine at dinner with the promise of a full glass if he could get the vintage right—this not only encouraged a keen interest in wine but also in statistics and all things commercial.

After studying at the London School of Economics, qualifying as a chartered accountant and a spell in Hong Kong, Esme founded Majestic Wine, which revolutionized wine buying in the UK. This new format of wine warehouses with young enthusiastic staff and a totally cosmopolitan range of wines was a huge success and spread very quickly.

Esme sold his interest in Majestic in 1989 and moved to Château de Sours in Bordeaux where he created critically-acclaimed wines which he sold all over Ireland for fifteen years. His rosé was described by the late Auberon Waugh as 'probably the best Rosé in the world.'

Esme is now based in England where he is a consultant to Noble Rot Ltd, a fine wine trading company, and is also an advisor to Oriel Wines in the USA.

E-mail Esme at esme(at)fromvineyardsdirect.ie.

Stuart Smith

After leaving university, Stuart spent the best part of a decade running a business in the Czech Republic. Always afflicted by the wine bug, he finally moved to Ireland in 1999 with his Irish bride. He has worked in increasingly senior positions for several of Ireland's leading wine companies running their Private Clients business, corporate sales and wine schools. Stuart worked for the Corkscrew in central Dublin before joining FromVineyardsDirect as its General Manager.

E-mail Stuart at stuart(at)fromvineyardsdirect.ie.