In the late 60s Thierry Cabanne came over to England from the Loire Valley. Once settled he opened a restaurant 'Thierry's', on the Kings Road in London and hoped to match the fantastic food on offer with his passion, equally fantastic wines.
Thierry struggled to get hold of the wines he craved so began quite simply to bring them into the country himself. As his reputation for sourcing amazing wines grew, so did the number of people who also wanted those very same wines Thierrys was bringing over from France, and thus the idea was born...
As this venture began to take up more and more of Thierry's time, and began to prove more profitable than the restaurant, Thierry saw a niche in the market and began to visit retailers and slowly acquired listings, just by being himself. He moved first to Winchester before settling in Romsey; near his beloved house and horses. Gradually Thierry's Wine Services started to take shape and in 1981, the company began trading. Back then, with only five employees, one of the Directors did the cooking until there came a time when decisions had to be made: hire a chef or settle for sandwiches. The decision was made back in the early 80s to appoint a chef and the belief from then still stands strong: we eat as a company, as one big family, and that time together is invaluable. The way to an employee's heart is most definitely through his stomach!
Grassa, Mont Tauch and Zuccardi joined Thierry's portfolio in the 80s and 25 years on, are still with us, a testimony to Thierry's business sense, dedication and ability to develop lasting relationships with its producers.
In 1984 John Hayston, then the sales director of Whitbread, and Thierry met whilst working on the first ever wine-in-a-box project, and within a matter of months were planning the future of Thierry's Wine Services - together. It was together also that they set up base first in Winchester and then Romsey, geographically ideal to support John's love of sailing and Thierry's love of all things equestrian. A new area was dawning for the company, spurred on by their passion for wine, innovation and exceeding their customers' expectations. The late 80s saw an increase in supermarket listings as well as the first stand at the London International Wine & Spirits Trade Fair, small and compact, but perfectly suited to the job!
In 1991, Thierry took it upon himself to bombard a talented young Majestic buyer by the name of Dominique Vrigneau, for an appointment, and eventually secured himself a late Friday afternoon interview. By the following Monday Dominique had handed in his notice and the rest, as they say, is history.
September 2007 brought the untimely death of our founding father, Thierry Cabanne, a date that will be etched in our minds forever. He will always be in our hearts, and following his death we took the decision to prove to Thierry that we would continue the business in the way he would have wanted, combining warmth and professionalism with a commitment to delivering wines of quality, authenticity and value to our customers.