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Champagne and Burgundy titan Joseph Henriot dies
Joseph Henriot, owner of Champagne Henriot, Burgundy négociant Bouchard Père et Fils and Chablis estate William Fèvre, has died aged 79.
Joseph Henriot. Photo credit: Michel Joly
Henriot, president of Groupe La Vigie and an influential figure in the wine industry, died in Paris on Monday.
A charming gent with a shrewd, focused mind forever seeking new opportunities, Henriot knew how to command a boardroom and build wine brands.
Among his greatest achievements were growing Veuve Clicquot into a global brand and restoring Burgundy négociant Bouchard Père et Fils to health.
Having studied agronomy in Paris in the ‘50s, Henriot began working for his family Champagne house aged just 21 in 1957 when his father died, becoming president in 1962.
“I knew nothing about business. But to learn, you have to jump into the deep end of the pool,” he told Wine Spectator in 2008.
During his time at Henriot he snapped up the then struggling Charles Heidsieck in 1975 and managed the house until it was sold to LVMH in 1985.
Made a member of the board at LVMH, Henriot was appointed head of Veuve Clicquot and advised the luxury goods giant to buy Cloudy Bay in New Zealand.
In 1994, Henriot bought back his family Champagne house, founded in 1808, from LVMH and became president of the company.
He grew his empire in 1995 with the purchase of Burgundy négociant Maison Bouchard Père et Fils for a reported £32m, which included 84 hectares of grand and premier cru vineyards, adding William Fevre in Chablis to his portfolio in 1998.
“How could I turn it down? How often does a Burgundy producer with 130 hectares of land including 12 hectares of grand cru vineyards and 75 hectares of premier cru vineyards come up for sale?” he told Wine Spectator in the same 2008 interview.
Henriot turned around the company’s fortunes by investing heavily in it, improving vineyard management and building a new winery.
He also organised tastings with journalists and merchants to decide which of the wines should be declassified and sold off in bulk, leading to an uptick in both quality and sales.
His last acquisition in 2008 was the 50-hectare Villa Ponciago in Fleurie, Beaujolais. Henriot is survived by his wife and three children. In the last few years he had started handing control of the company over to his son Thomas.