“Honey, I’ve Just Bought Bauduc”
Château Bauduc, 2018 – 2023
The telephone trilled loudly, reverberating around the living room. Angela Quinney stopped ironing, mid-shirt, and scurried across the room to pick up the call.
She knew only too well who it would be; her husband, Gavin. Having recently sold some shares he was making the most of his new-found wealth, indulging himself in Bordeaux, tasting some of the region’s grandest wines, and visiting as many châteaux as he could. Meanwhile Angela was holding the fort at home, looking after their two children, and waiting for news from their solicitor; they had just submitted an offer for a larger house in Putney, a well-to-do suburb of London.
She picked up. Yes, it was Gavin.
“Ange,” he enquired, “I was just wondering whether you would mind living in France rather than London?”
History has it that Angela said she would not mind living in France. Of course, this history was that recounted by Gavin, so who knows what was truly said. Perhaps something with a few more expletives?
“Oh that’s good,” replied Gavin, “because I’ve just bought a château. With a vineyard.”
The Quinney family’s new adventure, making a success of Château Bauduc, in Bordeaux’s Entre-Deux-Mers region, had begun.
Gavin’s Story
Gavin Quinney was a man in the right place, at the right time. Having worked a few early jobs as a porter in the Old Masters picture department at Christie’s auction house, and then in a London wine merchant, in the early 1980s he stumbled upon computers, particularly those made by an up-and-coming company named, curiously, Apple. Convinced by the produced, he took up a position at a local dealer, subsequently moving to a much larger computer dealership. Ten years later he was head of sales, and he had taken quite a few share options in the company. By 1997 Computacenter – as it was named – had an annual turnover of £1 billion, at which point it was floated on the stock market. A year later Gavin cashed in his shares.
Which was when, with his back pocket stuffed with cash, he decided to explore anew his interest in wine. Which was how he ended up buying Château Bauduc.
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