Vintex

The house

William Blatch, an Englishman living in Bordeaux, founded Vintex in 1982. In its first decades the house was known for the sweet wines of Sauternes and the small properties of Barsac, and for selling heavily to the United States.

Blatch sold the house in October 2006 to James Grégoire, Patrice Ricard and Philippe Larché, and stayed on for 5 years. The company that trades as Vintex today began then: Finavin, created at Cognac on October 6, 2006, moved to Bruges in 2017 and took the name Vintex in July 2018. For Grégoire, an owner of estates, Vintex opened markets for his own wines. In 2017 the Grégoire family sold it to Thea, a group based at Cavaillon, in Provence. Thea took over Château Soleil, in Puisseguin Saint-Émilion, in 2018, and owns Château Croix du Rival, in Lussac Saint-Émilion, whose cuvée Le Rival the house sells. Bill Blatch, as the trade knew him, died in 2025.

Philippe Larché, one of the 3 buyers of 2006, leads the house, with Joseph Asselin as its president since June 2017, and Arnaud Dessis runs the vineyards and cellars of the group’s estates. Vintex sells several dozen wines from across Bordeaux, with en primeur (sold as futures, while the wine is still in barrel) allocations of most of the classed growths. In June 2026 it moved its seat from Bruges, north of Bordeaux, to Puisseguin.

At a glance

Kind

Négociant

Based in

Puisseguin

Founded

1982, by William Blatch

Owner

Thea, since 2017

Direction

Philippe Larché; Joseph Asselin, president, since June 2017

Brands

Le Rival, of Château Croix du Rival