Chapoutier buys Beaujolais negoce

Rhône producer, Michel Chapoutier, has bought Beaujolais negociant La Maison Trénel.

As well as his highly-esteemed northern and southern Rhône properties, Chapoutier already has estates in Australia, Portugal and Alsace.

The sale was completed on 30 March and finalised through Chapoutier’s holding company MMC, not his main wine company M. Chapoutier SA. As a result the Trénel wines will continue trading under their own name and label with no reference to Chapoutier.

According to Vitisphere, Chapoutier explained that thanks to a “renewal” in the region thanks to a “new, rising generation” he was confident of “developing a high quality negociant.”

Based in Charny-les-Mâcon just south of Pouilly-Fuissé, Trénel is run by Gilles Melmoun and sells Beaujolais crus and Mâcon.

Founded in 1928 it originally found fame on the strength of its fruit liqueurs, a range it continues to produce to this day.