Maison Boisset

Maison Boisset began in the summer of 1961 in Gevrey-Chambertin, the village where Jean-Claude Boisset had grown up. Jean-Claude was eighteen at the time, and the business he started with his wife Claudine was modest: buying and selling wines from growers across the Cote d'Or. The first vineyard purchase came in 1964, a small plot in Gevrey-Chambertin, and exports to other European markets began in the 1970s. Jean-Claude later moved the operation to Vougeot before settling the headquarters at Les Ursulines, a former 17th-century Ursuline convent in Nuits-Saint-Georges that has since been converted into a gravity-fed winery. The Boissets' two children, Nathalie and Jean-Charles, both joined the family business as adults, and Jean-Charles took over leadership of the broader group in 2002.

• Founded in 1961 by Jean-Claude and Claudine Boisset in Gevrey-Chambertin
• Jean-Claude was eighteen; the business began as a small negociant buying and selling Cote d'Or wines
• First vineyard purchase came in 1964 in Gevrey-Chambertin; exports began in the 1970s
• Headquarters moved through Vougeot before settling at Les Ursulines, a former 17th-century convent in Nuits-Saint-Georges

Across the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the Boisset family acquired a succession of historic Burgundy houses, building a portfolio that today spans most of the region's commercial structures. Among them: Maison Bouchard Aine et Fils, a Beaune negociant founded in 1750 that is distinct from Maison Bouchard Pere et Fils (currently under Artemis Domaines ownership); Maison Antonin Rodet, anchored in the Cote Chalonnaise around Mercurey; Maison Jaffelin in Beaune; J. Moreau et Fils in Chablis; Maison Mommessin in Beaujolais; Louis Bouillot, the Nuits-Saint-Georges house specializing in Cremant de Bourgogne; and Charles de Fere for sparkling wine. Each house keeps its own cellar, technical team, and identity, with the broader group providing distribution, sales, marketing, and financial support. The structure is unusual in Burgundy: most of the apex large negociants (Drouhin, Jadot, Latour, Bichot, Faiveley) operate as single-house family businesses, while Boisset assembled a portfolio of distinct historic names under one institutional roof.

• Burgundy houses include Bouchard Aine et Fils (1750, distinct from Bouchard Pere et Fils), Antonin Rodet (Cote Chalonnaise), Jaffelin (Beaune), J. Moreau et Fils (Chablis), Mommessin (Beaujolais), Louis Bouillot (Cremant de Bourgogne), and Charles de Fere
• Each house operates with its own cellar, technical team, and identity
• Group provides distribution, sales, marketing, and financial support
• Structure is distinct from the single-house family models of Drouhin, Jadot, Latour, Bichot, and Faiveley

Domaine de la Vougeraie was assembled in 1999 by Jean-Charles Boisset from Cote d'Or parcels the family had been acquiring since 1964, starting with a five-hectare plot north of Gevrey-Chambertin. The domaine is named for La Vougeraie, the family home in Vougeot, and is anchored on Vougot Premier Cru Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot, a monopole, and a parcel of Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru. Today the estate spans roughly 44 hectares across more than 70 plots and 37 appellations, two-thirds on the Cote de Nuits and the remainder on the Cote de Beaune. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically. Pierre Vincent ran the cellar from 2006, succeeding Pascal Marchand (who had built the founding cellar through the 2005 vintage), before Vincent left for Domaine Leflaive in the late 2010s. The Vougeraie production has served as the apex anchor of the broader Boisset group, with Premier Cru and Grand Cru bottlings spanning Vougeot, Vosne-Romanee, Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard, Beaune, and Volnay, among others.

• Founded in 1999 by Jean-Charles Boisset from Cote d'Or parcels acquired since 1964
• Roughly 44 hectares across 70-plus plots and 37 appellations; two-thirds Cote de Nuits, one-third Cote de Beaune
• Anchored on Vougot Premier Cru Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot (monopole) and a parcel of Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
• Pascal Marchand built the founding cellar through 2005; Pierre Vincent ran the cellar from 2006 before later joining Domaine Leflaive

Jean-Charles Boisset built the California arm of the group under the JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset banner. DeLoach Vineyards, a Sonoma Pinot Noir specialist in the Russian River Valley, was the first major California acquisition, followed by Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma (one of the historic Sonoma estates, founded in 1857 by Hungarian-born Agoston Haraszthy) and Raymond Vineyards in Napa Valley, which has since been farmed biodynamically. Jean-Charles married Gina Gallo, a granddaughter of E. and J. Gallo Winery co-founder Julio Gallo, in a private ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on September 26, 2009, with about a hundred guests including many members of the Gallo family. The Boisset and Gallo companies are separate businesses, but the marriage produced a Franco-American family of four (twin daughters were born in 2011) with homes in both Napa Valley and Burgundy.

• JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset banner: DeLoach Vineyards (Sonoma, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir), Buena Vista Winery (Sonoma, founded 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy), Raymond Vineyards (Napa Valley, biodynamic)
• Jean-Charles Boisset married Gina Gallo, a granddaughter of E. and J. Gallo co-founder Julio Gallo, on September 26, 2009 in San Francisco
• Boisset and Gallo are separate businesses; the marriage produced twin daughters in 2011
• Family splits time between Napa Valley and Burgundy