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The House of
Laboure-Roi dates back to 1832, when it was founded in the town of
Nuits-Saint-Georges by Monsieur Laboure and Monsieur Roi. Twenty-two years
earlier Monsieur Claude-Joseph Bonnet establised what was to become a
thriving silk company in the city of Lyons. In 1974 these two diverse
interests came together, when Louis and Armand Cottin, direct descendants
of M. Bonnet, purchased Laboure-Roi from Robert Jeanniard, himself a direct
descendant of Mssrs. Laboure and Roi.
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The region
of Burgundy is steeped in history and it is nothing if not traditional.
The symbol of Laboure-Roi is the fleur de lys, the emblem
of the French king Louis VII, who was renowned for his honour and
chivalry. The wines of Burgundy were made famous by the Church,
who built monasteries attached to the best vineyards, which they
enclosed with stone walls. The most famous of these is, of course,
the Clos de Vougeot to the north of Nuits-Saint-Georges, with its
famous Chateau, now home to the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
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During the French
Revolution, the Church and the monks were expelled, and the Napoleonic
Code overruled the eldest child's right of heritage to the entirety of
an estate, thus dividing Burgundy into smaller and smaller parcels of
land due to the new laws of equal inheritance for each child. However,
nothing changes in the soul of Burgundy and it still remains a region
where family businesses, small and large, maintain the traditions and
the quality of the wines.
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It was into such a world that Armand Cottin stepped in 1974
as the new manager of a highly respected company, but one whose
turnover had declined to $200,000. Ten years later, he persuaded
his elder brother Louis to the new manager of a highly respected
company, switch his energies from silk to wine and after a quarter
of a century in Cottin hands. At this moment, on the 21 January
1999, the Cottin Brothers successfully introduced Laboure-Roi onto
the secondary market on the Paris Bourse.
The achievements
of Louis and Armand Cottin, whose company now ranks in the top
four in the Burgundy region, is based on their determination to
guarantee better quality. Although 75% of their sales are outside
France, sold across 30 different countries, they agree that the
true role of a negociant-eleveur is not just sell, but above all
to look after their wines. Even the best sales force can only succeed
if they are selling wines of quality.
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For this reason, apart from the five resident enologists
and a very modern laboratory, Laboure-Roi works very closely with
the growers, not simply at vintage time, but throughout the whole
year. This includes advising on from clonal selection, pruning,
canopy management, yields, length of time for skin contact, choice
of yeast strains, temperature control during fermentation, as well
as providing new oak barrels for aging. In addition, the company
holds annual seminars on winemaking, during which tastings are conducted
with wines from other regions of France and other countries, particularly
Australia and California, to keep the growers aware of the competition.
Louis and Armand COTTIN very much believe in developing a spirit
of cooperation and team work between themselves and their growers.
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"La Famille Cottin en
COTTIN-DESGOUTTES 1911"
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From this working partnership, which was known as La Grande Famille
des Domaines, have been taken seven specially selected domaines
to form a SIC (Societe d'Interet Collectif) which intensifies still
further the efforts made in research into viticulture and vinification.
The purchase of the famous Domaine Rene Manuel in Meursault in 1998
formed the corner stone of the SICA, which is planned to include
new appropriate domaines in the future. Such an approach ensures
that the wines sold under the Laboure-Roi label reflect the individual
character of the terroir and micro-climates in which the vines are
planted.
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Other plans already underway include expanding their range
of wines to include those of the Languedoc-Roussillon region,
where France's best varietal wines are made, to complement
their Burgundies, Chablis and Beaujolais. Finally, a close
commercial and marketing agreement for the American market
has recently been concluded with Dubos Freres of Bordeaux,
one of that region's top specialists in the sale of Cru Classe
wines. Dubos Freres just happens to be owned by Philippe Cottin,
Louis and Armand's eldest brother.
Blending
innovation with tradition, Laboure-Roi is typically Burgundian,
a true family business.
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"Louis and Armand COTTIN" |
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