Georges Duboeuf and son Franck
Georges Duboeuf, affectionately referred to as the “Pope of Beaujolais”, died of a stroke on Saturday 4 January 2020.
Born in Creches, near the village of Chaintre, in the Pouilly-Fuisse appellation in Burgundy, Duboeuf was raised on a small farm, where his family owned a few acres of chardonnay vines.
In 1950, the Frenchman created an association of producers called L’Écrin Maconnais-Beaujolais to promote the wines of the Beaujolais. Duboeuf tirelessly criss-crossed the villages of Beaujolais and Maconnais, and succeeded in convincing winegrowers to work with him.
In 1964, he set up Les Vins Georges Duboeuf selecting, making, bottling and selling the wines of the various Beaujolais and Maconnais producers he worked with all over the world. The company now buys the production of some 300 winegrowers, getting its supplies from around 20 cooperatives. Annual production is in excess of 30 million bottles. Les Vins George Duboeuf is today managed by his son Franck.
In 1993, Georges Duboeuf set up in the old Romaneche-Thorins station in Saone-et-Loire, and created a museum called Hameau du Vin, devoted to the art of vine growing and winemaking. There is also a bottle shop.
As the foremost ambassador of the region, Georges Duboeuf was affectionately nicknamed the “Pope of Beaujolais”.