Hix and Buck wine for F Word series

A novel combination of a dancer and mining engineer launch Hix & Buck to bring undiscovered French wines to UK and one of their wines has secured a spot on Gordon Ramsay’s new F Word series on Channel 4 TV.

Chix Chandaria, a former dancer, and Dan Roebuck, a mining engineer, have formed Hix & Buck to import exclusive, quality wines from undiscovered vineyards in France.

One of their exclusive sparkling wines, Brut Bosé Methode Traditionelle direct from the cellars of J & L Charlemagne in Angoulême, has been chosen to serve in series 5 of Channel 4’s F Word to celebrities and diners from mid October 2009.

This dark salmon pink coloured wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot & Chardonnay. The well-balanced sparkling rosé, with hints of roasted hazelnut plum, sells for £10.99

A classically trained former international dancer, whose work has taken her across the globe including Bollywood, Chix’s introduction to wine came early in my life, when at the age of seven she was given Babycham. She thinks her parents did not realise they were giving her alcohol. Her tastes have since developed.

Chix’s passion for wine led her to studying for her WSET (Wine & Spirit Educational Trust) qualifications and on several trips to France’s wine producing regions, getting to know the terroirs and how they contribute to the specific personality of a wine.

A friend with a particular fascinating wine cellar introduced her to Mas d’Intras, a small, centuries-old, family-run estate in the Ardeche. She experienced at first hand the passion and dedication the family ran their business, producing delicious wines. The cousins who run the vineyard were keen to expand the business and export to the British market. But such producers face a bureaucratic nightmare of regulatory and commercial red tape.

Excited by the wine that it tasted just as good in Islington as it did out on the fields in Alba, and at 39, with her career as a dancer reaching a natural conclusion, Chix was considering her options and eventually struck an exclusive export deal with the family.

She approached successful businessmen Dan Roebuck, who shares her love of wine and spirit of adventure, to apply his business skills to turn her passion into a viable enterprise. Roebuck, a qualified mining engineer and MD of a multi-million pound asbestos consultancy with over 100 employees had been in the process of diverting his attentions to the wine business. He had been in advanced discussions with a Spanish wine company before Chix’s timely approach.

Together, they devised a business model to bring in quality wines from small, unknown vineyards, which do not produce the vast quantities demanded by national supermarket chains and multiple retail outlets

“The company’s ambition is to surprise and delight the wine lover with unknown wines whilst offering them great value,” said Chix, adding, “I also hope that in some small way, it will help these wonderful, dedicated producers to survive and carry on the tradition of wine-making that has been handed down to them through generations.”

To launch Hix and Buck you can “discover New Wines from the Old World” at the official launch of Ivy House Food and Wine Club in Tonbridge, Kent with Hix & Buck Wines at Ivy House, 199 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BW on 16 November 2009 at 6.30pm. This will be an opportunity to meet the vineyard owners and wine producers, have a glass of the Brut Rose and try a range of wines which are exclusive to Hix & Buck in the UK

Hix & Buck Ltd, 23 Kingslea , Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SN

E: ChixandDan@hixandbuck.com T: 0800 612 4742