Nicknamed the "Pope of Beaujolais", the wine merchant Georges Duboeuf died Saturday at the age of 86 of the consequences of a cerebral hemorrhage. He died at the end of the afternoon at his home in Romanèche-Thorins, a village in Saône-et-Loire in which he notably created the "Hameau du vin".
“It saddens me a lot. We will miss him. He was a traveling companion, a loyal friend, ”said Michelin-starred chef Georges Blanc, for whom Georges Duboeuf was a“ tireless ambassador of Beaujolais ”.
Man had contributed to the development of Beaujolais wines in the 1950s before becoming a tireless promoter of the Beaujolais Nouveau a few years later, with which his name is associated in many foreign countries. In the 80s, he had succeeded in attracting stars of all kinds, car racers, singers, starred restaurateurs, politicians during the Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations which he organized each year for the release of the premiere.
"One step ahead of everyone"
Georges Duboeuf, whose family has been in wine for four centuries, had officially passed the hand in 2018 to his son Franck at the head of the company and its 30 million bottles per year. In the village of Romanèche-Thorins, the company founded in 1964 had spread, with a winemaking site, a museum called "the Hamlet of wine", a store, offices, a tasting room or a bottling site .
“He was a strong character in the region, whose potential he had realized. It has raised the Beaujolais flag all over the world, ”says Dominique Piron, president of InterBeaujolais. "He contributed a lot" to the creation of the Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations, he added. Georges Duboeuf "had a nose, an intuition, a step ahead of everyone". He also created the cuvée des 3 Paul, a nod to three great chefs from the Lyon region: Paul Bocuse, Paul Lacombe and Paul Blanc.
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