Is he France's greatest winemaker?

Georges Duboeuf, bless him, is still making great wines in his 70s. Thailand is probably a little too far a trek for him, though, so he sent his brand ambassador, Loic Amiot, to Bangkok earlier this month to host a party celebrating Les Vins Georges Duboeuf’s 50 years in the business.
There was much to toast. The firm maintains a prime position in the global market with the best-selling and perhaps most influential Beaujolais wines.
“Our wines are loved all everywhere because of their pleasant palate, which is not too heavy but still has all the complexity, the aroma and the impressive finish,” Aimot declared, doing a fine job as a stand-in for the boss.
He credited the Gamay grapes that predominate in Beaujolais. “The skin is thin and delivers less tannin to the wine, making it a light-to-medium red that can be enjoyed anywhere, including in warm climate like Thailand.”
Georges Duboeuf set up shop in 1964, creating wines from the Beaujolais and M?connais regions of Burgundy and the South of France that have won all sorts of awards. He makes the best-selling Beaujolais on the planet and sells more French wine in the US and Japan than anyone else. Les Vins Georges Duboeuf go to 140 countries in all.
    “Mr Georges Duboeuf still makes wine using traditional methods, though with the help of modern technology,” Aimot explained. “He works closely with over 400 growers in the Beaujolais region to make sure the highest-quality fruit is being used. He really believes in quality and not quantity.”
Aimot praised the founder’s “legendary palate” and called him “an emblematic figure in the wine industry”, earning the accolade “king of Beaujolais”.
    Duboeuf apparently helped make a batch of wine when he was only five years old. Obviously he enjoyed the experience, and by the time he was 19 he’d decided to devote himself entirely to the family vineyard. He began marketing the wines he’d personally bottled among the restaurants in his neighbourhood, developing the sort of close, all-in-the-family relationships with business partners that he still values today.
    It was Duboeuf, too, who made a global phenomenon of the long-established French tradition of welcoming the first wine of the season – “Beaujolais nouveau” – on the third Thursday of each November. Soon the whole world was joining in the heady celebrations greeting the “vin de primeur”, fermented for just a few weeks.
With grapes by law always harvested by hand, the wine is made using carbonic maceration, which brings out the fruit flavours but suppresses the bitter tannins of the grape skin.
Duboeuf’s premium appellation wines, known as “the flower range”, are readily recognised by the labels depicting colourful flora. You can choose wines based on grape varieties (red and white) or areas, such as the Beaujolais-Villages, Fleurie, Morgon, Moulin-a-Vent, Pouilly Fuisse and Macon-Villages.
    “The domain and chateau” range specifies vintage as well as the specific origins of the grapes. Single-vineyard wines (domaines) include Morgon Jean-Ernest Descombes, Julienas Chateau des Capitans, Pouilly Fuisse Emile Beranger and Macon-Villages Domaines des Chenevieres.
    If you happen to be around Romaneche-Thorins in France, you can visit Le Hameau du Vin, a theme park dedicated to the art of making wine. It offers many interactive and entertaining displays as well as a cinema and museum.


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Discover more about Les Vins Georges Duboeuf at www.Duboeuf.com.
Learn about Les Vins Georges Duboeuf in Thailand at www.ItalthaiGroup.com/fbs/eng/wine/georges-duboeuf.php.