A sign of the times – but for how long?

Shadows gather over Oddbins

I took a walk down to the Oddbins branch in Dulwich Village yesterday. In Oddbins' glory days the shop was busy and full of interesting wines. Yesterday was a sad contrast with just one person in a shop with little stock. What little stock there was had been creatively stretched to make it look as if most of the shelves had bottles on them with some wooden cases – empty? – used to cover up the remaining shelves. Walking around it was strangely echoey – reflecting its essential near emptiness. To be fair this shop was not as empty as the Unwins stores were just before the closure but Oddbins seems to be clearly heading that way.

From a recent report on decanter.com it seems that the CVA will be approved on 31st March but I fear that this is just going to stave off briefly the inevitable administration. Gone within six months perhaps?

Oddbins@Dulwich Village

Loire Chenin Blanc from Bougrier who are owed £27,439

See here and here for earlier posts on Oddbins plight.

See also Leon Stolarski: http://leonstolarski.blogspot.com/2011/03/oddbins-is-this-end-for-once-proud-wine.html

Oddbins – going the same way as Unwins and Threshers?

Details of the Oddbins Voluntary Creditors Arrangement are on the Deloitte site. Details of the proposals, list of creditors, proposed payment schedule here.

From the long list of creditors I've so far spotted four companies from the Loire who are owed money. Two of them in for small sums – Domaine de la Foliette in Muscadet Sèvre et Maine (£1502) and Baudry-Dutour in Chinon (£1929). Négociants Bougrier based in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher and Saint-Romain are owed rather more – £27,439. The biggest Loire loser, however, appears to be Fournier Père et Fils in Verdigny (Sancerre) who have £85,526 outstanding.

Outside the Loire and in addition to the leading creditors mentioned yesterday, the following names have a substantial exposure: Viña Carta Vieja (Chile) (£278,661), Pol Roger (£273,611), Mentzendorff (£194,372), Negociants International (£90,153), Laurent Perrier (£82,000), and Bodegas Palacio (£78,507). Nicolas UK, which is part of Castel – the previous owners of Oddbins – are owed £34, 665. With Concha y Toro owed £241,583 and Viña Carta Vieja (£278,661), there are two Chilean producers owed a total £520,244. In comparison Stockport Sunday School appears to have got of lightly with just £6.44 outstanding.

Of all the châteaux in the Loire the gracious Chenonceau is my favourite. Not only is it wonderfully elegant arching across the Loire (hardly surprising that a series of women were its principal creators) but it is just about imaginable that one could live there. In marked contrast to the gigantic and excessive Chambord build not for comfort but to impress, only the moated Azay-le-Rideau runs a close second.



It was also at Chenonceau that some of the first Chenin Blanc was planted in Touraine, by François I in the early 16th century, some time after it was planted at Cormery by the eponymous Bishop allegedly at Mont-Chenin around the middle of the 15th century. For many years Château de Chenonceau made its own wine, vinified in one of the old buildings in the grounds into which they had ingeniously crammed modern vinification equipment such as temperature controlled stainless steel vats. The vineyards now are looked after by, and the wine made by, Bougrier in La Chaise, part of Saint-Georges-sur-Cher.



Some of the best views of the exterior of the château are from the small track that runs along the south bank of the Cher, which is where these views were taken.

During the lifetime of Vichy France during the Second World War the River Cher was the border between German occupied northern France and Vichy France and the château was an escape route to relative freedom.