Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 18

GEORGES DUBOEUF, (SEATED RIGHT) IN THE CELLARS OF JEAN-ERNEST DESCOMBES (LEFT), CIRCA 1970.
STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT : PAUL BOCUSE, ALAIN CHAPEL, RENÉ LASSERRE, PIERRE LAPORTE, GASTON LENÔTRE, ROGER VERGÉ,
JEAN TROISGROS, CHARLES BARRIER, LOUIS OUTHIER, RAYMOND OLIVER, PAUL HAEBERLIN, MICHEL GUÉRARD, PIERRE TROISGROS

BUILDING

Beaujolais

Franck Duboeuf recalls his father's early years

interviewed by JOSHUA GREENE

Georges Duboeuf, who was seminal in building the international trade in Beaujolais wines over the past 65 years, passed
away in January. He was 86 years old. His son, Franck, has worked with him since the mid-1980s, starting out in charge of
production and becoming CEO of Les Vins Georges Duboeuf in 2018. Today, the company produces 600,000 cases of Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages wines, and bottles 290,000 cases of cru wines. Among these, about 50,000 are from individual
properties, which Les Vins Georges Duboeuf sells under the domaine or château label. Several of these wines were among the
top-scoring Beaujolais in our recent tasting of 2018s (see p. 108). I spoke with Franck about how his father developed these
relationships with growers, and about his remembrances of their work together.
IN 1955, MY FATHER BECAME A courtier [broker] and, at the same time,
met a famous chef, Paul Blanc. So, he started to sell Pouilly-Fuissé to
[Le Chapon Fin, in Thoissey, just outside the town of Mâcon]. And the
chef asked him to select a red Beaujolais as good as the Pouilly-Fuissé.
He found it in Leynes. I think this was Beaujolais 1955 and I think this
was the first wine my father bought.
In 1956, he created L'Écrin Mâconnais-Beaujolais (l'écrin means
"jewel case"). It was a gathering of 45 growers; among them were Mr.
Savoye, the father-in-law of Nicole Descombes [the daughter of JeanErnest Descombes, whose wine Les Vins Georges Duboeuf continues
to sell today]. So, thanks to his visits to growers, my father was able to
create very close relationships.
He started a new business, selling their estate-bottled wines. It was
a kind of revolution at the time, this kind of co-op, with growers starting to sell their own wines under their own names. After a few years,
in 1964, my father created his own négociant company. Thanks to his
experience as a grower, as a courtier, [as] a bottler to order, the growers trusted him. He knew the importance of storage conditions, of bottling in proper, clean conditions, using stainless steel-all things that
were very new at the time. He went often to the oenology station in
Mâcon; all this experience convinced him to have his own laboratory
next to his office.
After L'Écrin, he continued to work with a few of the growers, bottling their wines at the estate and selling them under the Duboeuf label.
Today, we carry about 80 domaine and château wines from Beaujolais and Mâcon. In Moulin-à-Vent, we work with Domaine des Rosiers,
18

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

Gerard Chavy; my father started working with [Chavy's] father when
the property was called Domaine La Rochelle. In many cases we are
now working with the second or the third generation.
And, in most cases, we don't have contracts with them. We don't
need to. We have a very close relationship with them and they know
better how to take care of their vineyard and to vinify. My father spent
a lot of time visiting and tasting the wines at the properties to find new
growers, but also to understand each appellation and terroir.
When I was young, I used to go with him during the weekend. We had
visits to five or six different domaines; it was a full day. Once, I asked
him, "Dad, why are you spending so much time discussing to buy the
wines?" He told me it's a very important time for the grower. It sealed
one year of hard work-a kind of celebration, a kind of special moment.
It's important for them to discuss with the whole family and take the
time to explain the situation. Growing vineyards in Beaujolais is hard
work and you are alone in the vineyard a lot.
My dad, every day, I think of him and the incredible memories we
shared. My father was a self-taught man, and he would give me congratulations or thanks on very rare occasions. But his trust was the best
recognition. He was not a kind of person to give you advice or to give
you direction, but he always had a very benevolent look. He believed
in doing, and he gave me so much. He knew to be surrounded by good
people, so I have a good team today. In fact, it's quite a new team,
because some of our team has retired, and some will retire soon. So,
now a new team is coming. I say a new team...well, some are working
with us for ten years or more... ■

Wine & Spirits - April 2020

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