Maison Ilan

[charlestaylor]

I am told, by someone I know and trust, but who does not want to be named, that the douane have seized all of Maison Ilan's 2014 and 2015 wines to recompense unpaid growers.

If you have ordered any of this you may not be too late to protect it. I gather Ray has fled the country.

 

[Steven Pritchard]

I am surprised anyone has bought wines recently given the bad press...

 

[Dan Baillie]

I received an email today stating that all wines up to the 13 and 14 vintages would be shipped this autumn and that they were adding staff to improve the customer service experience.

 

[Antoine Singer]

I suppose you should get the 2013... Charles Taylor only mentions 2014/5.

 

[Nigel PMartin]

I received an email today stating that all wines up to the 13 and 14 vintages would be shipped this autumn and that they were adding staff to improve the customer service experience.

Dan, do I take it you have bought these vintages?

 

[Jonathan Kalman]

I received the same email as Dan and have not bought anything from Maison Ilan.

 

[George Marshall]

A sad and awful tale. I hope not all the rumours are true.

 

[Alex Jagger]

I also received the email Dan mentions above and reading in between the lines it was more delays and issues at MI.

In all seriousness I hope there are no forumites with wine outstanding now (I got lucky by visiting the domaine twice and collecting by hand then stopped buying)

On a lighter note, these wines maybe become a whole new kind of rare collectors item.

 

[christopher prain]

Looks pretty abondoned to me, lots of mail, labels, a hasty retreat

 

[Nayan Gowda]

Looks pretty abondoned to me, lots of mail, labels, a hasty retreat

Hard to tell. Ray is/was one of the most disorganised winemakers I ever met. That could easily be "business as usual".

 

[Alex Jagger]

I wonder if the word is out on the Wine B forum, I don't think I can bring myself to look.

 

[Nayan Gowda]

Just looked.

Yes; referenced from this House.

 

[Richard Zambuni]

Surely anyone still buying from Ray Walker is certifiable . I can't imagine that anyone on this forum would have done so - or would they?

 

[Alex Jagger]

I couldn't resist a morbid peek at WB - seems like there is a brother in on the act and making wine too.

You couldn't make it up - from a fairytale to a nightmare.

 

[Steven Pritchard]

I'm glad you have the stomach for WB... all #pointlesshashtags and obscure street humour. Like turning the TV on during an episode of Happy Days.

 

[Dan Baillie]

Dan, do I take it you have bought these vintages?

I stopped buying after the 12s.

 

[Alex Jagger]

I'm glad you have the stomach for WB... all #pointlesshashtags and obscure street humour. Like turning the TV on during an episode of Happy Days.

I don't have the stomach for it at all.

I couldn't resist a peek today but it will turn ugly quickly enough I would think.

 

[Steven Pritchard]

I don't have the stomach for it at all.

Phew! All is right with the world....

 

[Jonathan Hesford]

If the douanes are involved I doubt it is simply about unpaid growers. They are generally more interested in payment of duty and whether the wines were labelled true to their source of grapes.

 

[Mahmoud Ali]

If the douanes are involved I doubt it is simply about unpaid growers.

Sounds eminently logical to me.

Mahmoud.

 

[Sean Hardon]

Todd French reported on the 19th in Wine Beserkers, that the reason for the officials getting involved isn't unpaid growers but " that all assets of the corporation are locked pending a divorce".

I can confirm that I had a telephone conversation with Ray January/February this year that he told me then that the marriage had broken down and he had not seen the children for months. Though I would be somewhat bemused that the Courts would seize assets in such a civil matter, especially when the asset concerned had already got another owner and that could clearly be proved.

 

[Ian Sutton]

I'm glad you have the stomach for WB... all #pointlesshashtags and obscure street humour. Like turning the TV on during an episode of Happy Days.

I don't think that's at all an accurate reflection.

There is still a small minority of shit-stirrers, but on the whole that forum has put a lot of the antagonism of it's birth behind it.

 

[billnanson]

I stopped buying after the 12s.

I stopped with the 10s and then apologised to everyone that he'd been on my site a lot, 'promoting'

 

[Simon Grant]

the marriage had broken down and he had not seen the children for months

How very sad for all concerned

 

[Tom Cannavan]

I stopped with the 10s and then apologised to everyone that he'd been on my site a lot, 'promoting'

I feel sorry for him - but more for customers and creditors if things don't work out - but I have to say I was not tempted to buy anything from him, largely because I was uneasy that all he registered on this forum for was to publicise and sell his wines it appeared to me, and after his second year of what was clearly a commercial sales pitch I had a quiet word by PM, which he answered very rudely. On a personal level I wanted nothing to do with his wines because of his attitude, which with hindsight might have been a godsend...