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The millionaire and his Chateau in the air
Gavin Quinney knew little about wine until he brought a vinyard and turned Chateau Bauduc into a legend in the making
IT was past closing time at the London Wine Show, security guards were gently but firmly herding the stragglers – including us – towards the exits. Looking up to the Mezzanine floor, we spied a big crowd milling around a small stand. Being life-long ambulance chasers and dedicated nosey-parkers, we felt compelled to bluff our way past the security and investigate.
Chateau Bauduc, Bordeaux, the sign on the stand read, in front of which a young man was holding up a bottle. “Its £45 at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant, but here to-night, you can buy it for £6.50,” he cried.
His name is Gavin Quinney and the story he tells is sensational.
Seven years ago he was “something in computers”. Then he struck lucky – his company was floated on the stock exchange – he became a multi-millionaire. On a whim he brought a Bordeaux vineyard, situated in Entre-Deux-Mers, a sprawling wine area half way between the city of Bordeaux and the world famous wine village, St Emilion.
Next, he and his wife, sold their south London terraced house and moved – with their two children – to France.
He was acquainted with wine – he had drunk it for years but had only a hazy notion of its method of production. The 75 acre – big for the area – vineyard came with a large chateau and existing staff. Together with his French workers he began to make wine.
Entre-Deux-Mers is an area that makes simple and cheap blended wine, Quinney longed to produce something different and he was prepared to risk his newly acquired fortune in pursuit of his ambition.
Expensive oak barrels were acquired, new-world-style equipment and production methods introduced but his big break came when Gordon Ramsey chose Chateau Bauduc’s Bordeaux Blanc sec, as his restaurants house wine.
This was no accident, according to Gavin, he dined at Ramsey’s restaurants and on each occasion, he included in the tip, a bottle of his wine. Soon, other high class establishments such as the plush Conaught Hotel, near Marble Arch and TV chef Rick Stein’s The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall began serving Chateau Bauduc.
But high class restaurants do not sell large amounts of wine. They make money by charging a small number of diners inflated prices. The wine-makers on the other hand receive a market price for their wine.
The income from Ramsey might be small but for the Quinneys the publicity value is enormous. The Observer, The Times and BBC TV have all featured the story of the novice wine-maker and the Michelin three star chef.
A four-page special in Homes and Gardens, an extensive article in the Economist and numerous articles in the wine press have added to the Chateau Bauduc legend.
The Quinneys have skilfully used this coverage to highlight their unique distribution system. Potential customers call a UK 0800 number and are diverted, without charge, to the chateau in France. The order is taken and the wine speedily delivered from stock stored at two centres in England.
The Quinneys are small scale producers who sell their expensively made wines for a few pounds a bottle. Some question their ability to make money from wine sales and claim Chateau Bauduc is an expensive folly doomed to failure.
Gavin admits that money is a problem and in retrospect realises their initial approach was financially naïve. On the positive side, they have put the unknown Chateau Bauduc on the wine making map, and created a growing market for its wine. They have also overcome the main obstacle facing small producers – how to get the wine from your estate to the UK customer.
But Chateau Bauduc’s greatest asset is Gavin Quinney himself, recently, he has developed two new talents, as a wine writer for Wine and Spirit magazine and as a fine wine guru.
His new web site, cheekily lists all the leading Bordeaux wines, complete with his personal tasting scores, along side those of the powerful American wine expert Robert Parker and leading English wine writer Janice Robinson.
Chateau Bauduc produces a small range of red, white and rose wines. The full range can be ordered by the case – most for less than ten pounds a bottle – on 0800 316 3676.
For more information visit www.bauduc.com.
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