Thierry Cabanne, founder and chairman of Thierry’s Wine Services, has died in a car accident.

The accident happened in the early hours of Thursday morning. Cabanne was 62.

His foresight in seeing the emerging buying power of multiple retailers and specialist chains led him to create Thierry’s Wine Services in 1981, now one of the country’s leading wine brokers.

Friends and colleagues around the world have been paying tribute to the man who built his business up to be the single largest importer of French wines into the UK, importing some 4m cases per year.

‘This is a terrible shock’, said Dominique Vrigneau, buying director for Thierry’s. ‘After 15 years together you never think this can happen. Thierry always said that he wanted to create a business that would survive him and we want to prove him right. Everyone at Thierry’s is deeply sad and will miss him terribly.’

Leadership of Thierry’s Wine Services continues under Ged Welch as managing director and Hatim Dungarwalla as finance director, supported by the executive team Dominique Vrigneau, Lindsay Talas, and Matt Dickinson.

Written by Lucy Shaw

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Lucy Shaw
Lucy Shaw
Decanter Magazine, Restaurant Critic, Wine Writer & Editor

Lucy Shaw is a wine and spirits editor and writer, based in London. She joined Decanter 2007 as Editorial Assistant and left three years later to join The Drinks Business, where she is now the editor. Her special interests are the wine regions of Spain, South America and Champagne, as well as reviewing the latest restaurants on London’s dining scene.