Bill Blatch 1948–2025

Purple Pagers may already know that Bill Blatch died of a heart attack last week while on holiday in Tahiti (see this thread that I started on Sunday on our forum).

I have since learned more about his life and glorious career so can fill in a few details. Englishman Bill Blatch was born in 1948 and arrived in Bordeaux in 1974 in his mid twenties. One of his first jobs was working for the négociant Dulong, at the time owned by Harveys of Bristol, and so he spent quite a time in Bristol. He became export director for another négociant, Dourthe, and then founded his own négociant, Vintex, with Ulla Delpech and Christopher Pease just in time to benefit from the magic 1982 vintage. In October 2006 he sold it to James Gregoire (the owner of Château de la Rivière), Patrice Ricard and Philippe Larché, and then stayed on for five, rather than the contracted three, years.

I knew him best when he was presenting his beloved Sauternes at the annual Vintex tasting, and also as the vital cog in organising the annual Southwold tastings in the UK of about 200 of the most important bordeaux from the vintage four years before. For more than 30 years he painstakingly collected samples from each château and tactfully reported what the group thought of each wine back to proprietors – a delicate act requiring fine diplomacy! Having sold Vintex, he spent the last decade representing Christie’s in Bordeaux as well as running Bordeaux Gold promoting Sauternes.

I never heard anyone say a bad word about Bill. He was universally liked by everyone in the wine trade and, despite his huge knowledge (he succeeded Peter A Sichel in providing the definitive annual report on the Bordeaux vintage, now bravely undertaken by Gavin Quinney of Château Bauduc, who reported on the 2024 bordeaux vintage yesterday), he was always wonderfully modest, cheerful and helpful.

After some quite serious surgery he was unable to collect and drive all the samples to London for this year’s Southwold tastings of the 2021 vintage, but he did attend the three-day event with his usual charm, and faithfully collected our impressions. I wonder whether he had had time to relay our less than enthusiastic reactions to the vintage?

Below is what the organiser of the Southwold tastings sent to us all on Sunday and email reactions to the news in approximate order.

Stephen Browett of Farr Vintners to the Southwold group of tasters I know that I speak for all of us when I say how much we all liked, admired and respected Bill. He was a thoroughly good bloke and a great champion of the wines of Bordeaux – and in particular of Sauternes. And, of course, his good relations with all the properties in the region was essential to us having access to samples of the wines for our tasting group. He spent a huge amount of time reporting back to the producers and was expert at handling and soothing some pretty strong egos.

He will be hugely missed by all of us in the Southwold group and the wider Bordeaux wine trade.

Neal Martin of Vinous I’m shocked and incredibly sad hearing this. RIP Bill.

Mark Andrew MW of Noble Rot Shocked and deeply saddened to hear this terrible news. Bill was such a great bloke and a pillar of the trade. He will be missed. RIP. 

Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW of Private Cellar He was always so charming yet, as you say, managed those egos so well. 

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW of The Wine Independent Just heartbreaking. He was always a joy to be with – an incredible wealth of stories and information. Such a loss. I will miss him dearly.

Guy Seddon of Corney & Barrow I am very sorry to hear this. I met Bill for the first time at the recent tastings and he couldn't have been more welcoming. I have always admired his writing and commentary. A real loss to the trade. 

Mark Savage MW of Savage Selection What awful news. I am deeply sad at the sudden loss of yet another of my friends of over 50 years' standing. We will all miss Bill deeply.

Tim Sykes of The Wine Society Oh no, that’s such awful news. What a dreadful loss. Bill really was one of the good guys – a gentleman, a professional and an unstinting supporter of Sauternes and the wines of Bordeaux, with an infectious enthusiasm that will live long in the memory. I hope his wife Tita is being supported by the embassy in Tahiti. 

Matthew Hemming MW of Vinum On my desk I have the cork from a jero of Ausone 1980, my vintage, that Bill brought along when Southwold fell over my 40th birthday. It was the sort of kind and thoughtful gesture I came to associate with Bill. The bottle had been rejected by Christie’s and he’d decanted a litre or so into one of those plastic cola bottles he tended to use for these things (anyone remember the 1964 Moët poured from a Coke bottle at Hatched one year?!). The 1980 was hardly from a golden period for Ausone, and was further challenged by both its vintage and the indignities of its transport. Frankly, it didn’t taste very nice but Bill’s generosity compensated for all these things and I think fondly of him while fiddling with the old cork when I should be paying attention in calls. Modest to a fault, I always thought of Bill as a bit of a softly spoken giant of the trade. And a bloody nice guy.

What a loss.

Aidan Bell of DBM Wines (who kindly supplied the image at the top of this article) How terribly sad, thank you for letting us know, we shall all miss Bill enormously. His generosity in sharing 1948 La Tour Blanche at our last Southwold dinner (his birthday wine, I believe) was typical of his kindness, despite not feeling up to being with us on the evening.

Bill joined us in Bristol last year to present the Commanderie with a tasting of Sauternes (see image above). Through his auspices the châteaux were only too pleased to support the event with generous contributions.

Two of Bill’s great passions were fishing and scuba diving. Until about 10 years ago his annual fishing trip in Canada involved being dropped off in the wilderness with a good friend before paddling downstream and setting up camp at various locations over a three-week period and literally living off the land and eating the fish they caught. The final stretch to Hudson Bay was apparently the most nerve-racking as it involved navigating substantial rapids. It would be worth asking Olivier Bernard and Daniel Cathiard for a bon mot. I think he took both Anne [Bernard] and Florence [Cathiard] fishing in Bordeaux on various occasions.

I’m sure that his American distributors will also have very fond memories, he loved his annual road trips through the States to promote his beloved petits châteaux. He would take in American football games and adored the tailgate parties and the good nature of the people he met. 

Such a sad loss, he was a great mentor to so many of us over the years.

Robert Mathias MW of Lay & Wheeler So very sad. I only met Bill for the first time at the tastings just a month or so ago, but what a lovely and generous chap with such enthusiasm and experience too. 

That 1948 La Tour Blanche from the Southwold dinner which Bill offered will stay in my mind!

Ben Browett of Farr Vintners Terribly sad news. 

My experience with the Southwold group occurred very early on in my wine life and Bill was one of those fantastic people in wine who was always happy to explain, share and was never arrogant despite his clear huge wealth of knowledge. 

A British man, living happily in France, heading off on scuba-diving holidays in places like Papua New Guinea (while in his 70s), I always thought was just a great example of how to enjoy your life and be open to the world while also being nice to people.

David Roberts MW of Goedhuis Waddesdon I have such fond memories of Bill, firstly thanks to his extraordinary kindness, support and advice when I was a young wine buyer starting out in the early 1990s and he specialised in sourcing some outstanding-value bordeaux and then latterly as part of the Southwold group when his passion and enthusiasm was second to none. 

Passion and enthusiasm spring to mind. His charm and almost childlike enthusiasm for everything Bordeaux was infectious. He had 50 years’ experience which he was so keen to pass on to the next generation of Bordeaux wine lovers. He was not only the source of great viticultural information but was also up for a little bit of mischievous gossip, always with charm and never malicious!

A highlight of my Bordeaux year was always the Friday of the UGC tastings, a day Bill and I would spend together savouring the extraordinary sweet wines of Sauternes. Tasting the primeur wines and sharing the odd older bottle as well. It became an annual pilgrimage for 30 years, and I owe him everything for my own passion for these, the most unique sweet wines in the world. 

What an extraordinary ambassador he was for the region.

Sebastian Payne MW I first met Bill 50 years ago on a WSET trip to the Rhône when he was a sophisticated export director for Dourthe. Then I saw him every year since 1983, when John McLusky, Bill and I used to do Sauternes pub crawls, and then go to his amazing Vintex tasting of petits châteaux etc. He was selling lots to the US but also to The Wine Society: 1,000-case lots of 1982s for a start. And then we bought pots of 1983 Sauternes which he said set him up with the growers because other négociants didn’t bother.

I also went to his party at Haut-Bailly when he was given the gong with the blue ribbon.

An amazing friend. I, like so many, owe Bill a huge debt.

John Harvey I am devastated to hear of Bill's untimely passing. He became for me, and I am sure for many others, a tutor and mentor for all things Bordeaux, and for Sauternes and particularly small Barsac châteaux through thick and thin times. Because I had met Bill in Bristol, when he had briefly worked for Harveys, I was in on the ground floor when he defiantly founded Vintex with Ulla Delpetch and Christopher Pease. For more than 12 consecutive years I joined Bill for his en primeur château-hopping weeks. He would pick me up at my hotel about 7.15 in the morning, armed with a baguette to chew on, as we sped to Calon Ségur for the first of 10 or more carefully timed tastings at the most prestigious châteaux. It was indeed a special privilege to meet, and to be offered a tasting by the owners themselves.

It was Bill's personality that opened these hallowed doors for us. In addition, Friday and Saturday were spent in the tasting room at Vintex faced with an array of up to 300 samples from every corner of the Bordeaux region. On behalf of Harveys I found many unknown treasures, very often at very reasonable prices, and we could not have done without a small allocation of some of the true heavyweights, which Bill generously passed our way from Vintex's own meagre ration. Tita would often be in the background organising a hearty lunch of rillettes and cheeses.

I last saw Bill in Bristol at the Bristol Commanderie tasting and lecture, which he delivered with his customary charm and aplomb. It seemed that he was the same old Bill, and he made sure that we chatted alone for at least 10 precious minutes. How sad I am to think that that was the last time we shall meet! It was only last week that Karen and I were discussing a possible trip to Cap Ferret, with the intention to meet Bill and Tita for lunch one day.

Florence Cathiard of Château Smith Haut Lafitte Bill was such a close and dear friend! He was the first one who explained the Place to both of us 55 years ago! His wife Tita and he came several times to our house and we went fishing together on a small island with a lake we own on the Garonne River. He was catching many different fish and releasing them immediately while we didn't manage one catch with the same bait … He was a gifted taster with his very peculiar passion he had with Sauternes, and very talented for diving. I wonder whether he was with Tita in one of their incredible sea spots? I remember a few years ago when we arrived by bike exhausted from Cap Ferret at his house in Lacanau, he made a beautiful barbecue for us before taking us back in his car with our bikes to our own house 40 km from his own.

Let’s have a toast to him with our next glass of Sauternes.

Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier, sent while travelling in the US

Loyauté, charme, connaissance et amour du vin , sourire et partage sont les mots qui restent de Bill. 
 

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Bordeaux Sauternes

Jancis Robinson