Invivo Wines X Sarah Jessica Parker: An Authentic, World-Class Collaboration
Invivo X, SJP brings together the winemaking know-how of New Zealand’s Invivo Wines with the style and taste of Sarah Jessica Parker. The collaboration covers every aspect of the wines, from naming and label design to the winemaking itself.
Founded in 2008 by old school friends Rob Cameron and Tim Lightbourne, Invivo has become a leading producer of New Zealand wines. And they do it without any pretension or fuss. As Rob says, “We make wines our mates would drink, and talk about it in the same way they would: honest, down to earth, and without too much BS.”
Invivo’s partnership with Sarah Jessica Parker goes way beyond the typical celebrity endorsement, in what she describes as a very collaborative process. Sarah Jessica was hugely instrumental in naming the wine and in designing the label. The X and the comma directly after it are an intentional and personal touch, referencing her signature email and Instagram post signoff: “X, SJ.” She even handpainted (with her pinky!) the X on the original label.
Sarah Jessica also joins in the winemaking process, working alongside the Invivo wine team to taste and blend the wines each vintage. Rob notes, “It’s so important that Sarah Jessica is involved in blending Invivo X, SJP each year, as she represents the tastes of our customers and what they are looking for in their glass.” With Rob and Tim as her mentors, she loves learning about the industry and furthering her wine education.
The Invivo X, Sarah Jessica Parker wine collaboration currently features a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, New Zealand pinot noir, and a Provence rosé — three incredibly popular, but also highly respected, styles. The wines have won more than 60 awards (along with multiple 90+ point scores and two Wine Spectator Top 100 rankings) in just two years, making Invivo X, SJP the most awarded celebrity wine brand. While these are wines that can be taken seriously, they remain, first and foremost, wines that are seriously fun.
From Majestic Marlborough to Picturesque Provence
Invivo X, SJP wines hail from two of the world’s most important winemaking regions.
Invivo Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir come from Marlborough, New Zealand. Located on the northeastern tip of the South Island, Marlborough is the country’s largest and most famous wine region. Marlborough benefits from a maritime climate with a wide diurnal temperature range and long growing season, which help grapes develop intensely concentrated flavors while retaining freshness.
The Invivo X, SJP Rosé comes from Provence in southeastern France, which is internationally regarded as the globe’s top region for rosé production. Provence has a warm Mediterranean climate, with ample sunshine (around 3,000 hours per year) to ripen grapes. The region also experiences long, dry summers that prevent vineyard diseases and yield ideal harvest conditions.
Viticulture
Invivo X, SJP Sauvignon Blanc blends grapes from five estates in Marlborough, spanning the Wairau and Awatere Valleys. The vines range from three to 11 years old. Sarah Jessica loved the intensity of fruit from the Waihopai Valley and has blended that with pure aromatics from the Western Wairau and the power found in the Westhaven Vineyard. The Westhaven Vineyard is one of the last blocks of sauvignon blanc in Marlborough to be harvested and so has an extremely long season to develop flavor.
Invivo X, SJP Rosé has been crafted in collaboration with a family estate from Lambesc, South Provence, France. The grapes come from the Roy René vineyards, covering just over 900 hectares / 2,200 acres around the villages of Lambesc, Saint-Cannat, and Rognes. The exceptional exposure of the Chaîne des Côtes and the Chaîne de la Trévaresse hilltops, as well as a climate with little rain and frost, yield grapes with irreproachable quality.
SJP Takes an Active Role in Winemaking
Sarah Jessica Parker works alongside Invivo Wines co-founders Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron to taste and blend each new vintage. Rob explains, “This wine is 100% Sarah Jessica Parker. So other than selecting the base wine, I take a back seat and let her create the blends.” Sarah Jessica also designs the wine labels — the colors of the ‘X’ on the labels match colorways in her shoe collection.
