Wine Empire Building

Experience, though none authority
Were in this world, is right enough for me
To speak of woe that is in marriage

Laroche and Jeanjean (a company so good they named it twice) have decided to get spliced for financial reasons.  This is said to be the biggest merger since Saruman and Sauron went into partnership. The sin(sic)ergy will be fantastic, said a spoke-Orc.

Meanwhile Gallo and Boisset are powerful figures in two of the most dynamic wine families in the world have also tied the knot, or, as they say in the wine trade, disgorged the marital lees.  Boisset is president of Boisset Family Estates, which has recently acquired Napa’s Raymond Vineyard and Cellar amongst other properties is now a disciple of the Gallo-lean philosophy that world of wine revolves around the Giant Merger.

The parent company, the huge and long-established Burgundy negociant, has just finalised the purchase of Burgundy producer Antonin Rodet, and has interests in Chile, Uruguay and Canada and Alpha Centauri.

Jean-Charles Boisset himself is known for his business acumen and flair. He was one of the first to put Burgundy under screwcap including his famous Morey-St-Elvin, as well as an early adopter of Tetra-Pak with his French Rabbit range.  Sales of this latter product are said to be “breeding like Boissets”. On tasting the Pinot Noir from the Languedoc eminent critic Robert Parker opined: “This may be one small sip for a man, but it is one giant bunny leap for mankind”.

Gina Gallo is a much-travelled ambassador for Gallo – the world’s second-biggest wine company after Constellation – as well as winemaker.

Whether the union will result in a Gallo-Boisset joint venture in terms of a new blend, the future is uncertain, but I am certainly looking forward to tasting their new baby: a Pinot-Cabernet blush wine.