Beaujolais legend Georges Duboeuf dies

Famous Beaujolais négociant Georges Duboeuf, head of the eponymous brand, has died aged 86.

Georges died on Saturday 4 January at his home in Romanèche-Thorins. Born into a longstanding winemaking family in 1933 he dedicated his whole life to wine, starting in the 1950s with the founding of L’Ecrain Mâconnais-Beaujolais which was an association that promoted wineries in both regions.

He opened his own winery, Georges Dubouef, in 1964, bringing modern techniques and practices to his winemaking.

He was also a prime advocate of bottling at the winery, something still little practiced in the ‘50s and ‘60s with many wines shipped in bulk to bottlers in the end market.

His own vine holdings and contracts would eventually see Georges Duboeuf as a brand produce wine from every cru and appellation in Beaujolais and while a renowned stickler for quality there was a small scandal in 2005 when some questionable blending was found to have taken place with some 200,000 litres of the rather thin 2004 vintage.

Nonetheless, the company grew over time to become the leading (and biggest) brand in the region with an annual production today of around 30 million bottles which are exported worldwide and the first contact with Beaujolais wines for many.

But it was the creation of the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon that was perhaps Georges’ most famous legacy.

Taking a relatively small, local practice, Dubouef turned it into a truly global event throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Celebrities and Michelin-starred chefs such as Paul Bocuse, Georges Blanc and Jean-Paul Lacombe were all guests of Duboeuf during the annual festival and with all the crazy and imaginative races and parties that went with it.

Of course, while the Nouveau experience put Beaujolais on the map for a while it arguably had a downside as well which is only now being overcome.

Nonetheless, Duboeuf was, in the words of Dominique Piron president of InterBeaujolais, never anything less than a “indefatigable ambassador” for Beaujolais whose name will “be inscribed in the history” of the region.

Duboeuf was, Piron continued, “a pioneer, ahead of his time and a ‘Great Man’ of the sort not often seen.”