Angelo Cane dies aged 59

Angelo Cane, the founder of VinumTerra Wine Merchant, died suddenly last week at the age of 59.

Cane founded the wine merchant, described by the late Steven Spurrier as “one of the UK’s foremost importers of Italian wine”, in 1991 and served as managing director for 33 years. He suddenly died in London on Tuesday 26 March.

A tribute uploaded to the VinumTerra website reads as follows:

“Those who knew Angelo have been mourning the loss of a friend, boss, colleague, customer, supplier, and mentor this week – for many people, there was significant overlap, as Angelo meant so much to so many. His passing at the age of 59 has come as a shock, making it that much harder to process – our thoughts are very much with his wife, Valeria, his children, Reuben, Edith, Omar, and all his family.

This week has been tribute-filled but we open with one that the humorous side of Angelo would have enjoyed the most: cuneo24.net reported that the world of wine had lost one of Italy’s greatest oenologists. We can hear him laughing in absence at this! After graduating as an oenologist from Umberto I Scuola Enologica Alba and leaving his beloved Piemonte, he founded, from a flat in Muswell Hill, the business that would become Vinum in 1991 with his friend and business partner, Paolo Nolasco. Angelo was proud of and fought for Vinum’s enduring independence and size, working with a dynamic range of businesses, both small and large, from his friends Roberto Bianco of Cascina Morassino and Luciano Piona of Cavalchina to Gaja & Castello Banfi.

Dynamic and shrewd in business, Angelo had an eye for a great opportunity, a great nose for quality, and just enough rough-around-the-edges Piemontese charm that producers who have been with Vinum since its first portfolio in 1994 remain. Further recognition of this is that Angelo was as comfortable making jokes with the waiters in whichever one of his friends’ restaurants he was in, as he was making jokes with the buyers at Marks & Spencer’s or Selfridges – the latter, in his opinion, started by selling fridges. So many jokes repeated deliberately!

Angelo was the eternal optimist, always able to find a solution, remain calm, and help colleagues. Perhaps this positivity came from his ability to, as an ex-colleague and friend put it this week, ‘connect with his inner child’ or from a developed calmness over three decades of import, trade, and export, or something learned from his beloved Juventus, who won nine Serie A titles in a row after the calciopoli scandal and subsequent relegation. But perhaps, it was simply that for Angelo, his passion was his work, every challenge was an opportunity, always excited for the day ahead and the encounters they would bring.

Weekly or daily updates could often start and finish with banter on the football (normally jesting about how poorly he’d seen your team do), or with interest in the film he had just seen, questions about anything but work. And this is why he is and will remain as Angelo, the boss who created a comfortable space where people are inspired to believe in the power of family.

The messages of condolence, support, and disbelief have been numerous, and we thank you for all of them and send our support back to you now. We thought it appropriate to end with notes from a number of his closest friends made through work, who were so kind to send longer pieces, while our thoughts are also with those who could not find the words. Angelo, rest in peace – we will all miss you greatly and in your words: Vendere, vendere, vendere!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by VinumTerra Wine Merchant (@vinumterra_wines)