Duboeuf

Important family of winegrowers in the municipality of Romanèche-Thorins in the French region of Beaujolais, who have been growing wine since the 15th century. Georges Duboeuf (*1933) made wine from the vineyards of his brother Roger from the early 1950s onwards and sold it to local restaurants. One of his earliest enthusiastic customers was the famous star chef Georges Blanc (*1943). For a while, he ran the "Ecrin Mâconnais-Beaujolais" winegrowing group and finally founded a trading company (Négociant) in 1964. Subsequently, he was instrumental in new developments such as temperature-controlled fermentation and the use of stainless steel tanks, resulting in an exceptionally fruity wine style. He earned a reputation as a tireless promoter of Beaujolais Nouveau, which earned him the nickname "Le Roi du Beaujolais". Influenced by Alexis Lichine (1913-1989), he championed producer bottling (domain bottling). In the 1990s, he built up a close collaboration with 400 winegrowers and 20 winegrowers' cooperatives. The company produces around 25 million bottles of wine a year with the famous flower motifs on the bottle label designed by the company founder. Most of these are wines from the Beaujolais appellations (over 10% of the region's production and 15% of world exports) and Mâconnais, as well as from the Rhône. In the late 1980s, Georges Duboeuf founded a joint venture in Napa Valley, California. In Romanèche-Thorins a large wine museum called "Hameau du Vin" was established. Son Franck joined the company.