Frédéric Drouhin, new President of the Bourgogne Wine Board
22-03-2021The BIVB’s former president, Louis-Fabrice Latour, gave personal reasons for resigning from the post that he has held since 1 January 2020. He will, however, remain involved with BIVB governance. Frédéric Drouhin, CEO of the Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune, was elected to the post by the permanent committee following his nomination by the Fédération des Négociants-Eleveurs de Bourgogne (FNEB). The appointment will be effective until the end of the current mandate in December 2021. “Over the coming months, I will mainly be focusing on two subjects that seem to me to be particularly important in terms of underpinning our future,” Drouhin said. “Firstly, our ‘Terroir and Territory: A Commitment for the Future’ regional charter, which sets out our vision of the place of wine in our society, respecting the environment and those living within it, and will see us paying the same attention to those around us as to the fruit of the vines when we make our wine. And secondly, the Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne, the gateway to Bourgogne, which symbolizes our desire to invite a wide public into our world. This welcome is another key strength of Bourgogne. It is by building on these values shared by both winegrowers and négociants that we will also be able to develop economic value for our territory and our businesses.”
François Labet, who represents the winegrowing side of the industry, will remain in his role as Vice President of the BIVB.
Along with his siblings, Frédéric Drouhin represents the fourth generation at the helm of Joseph Drouhin in Beaune. He was named COO in 2000, and then appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2003. He was also President of the FNEB from 2014 to 2018, and as such, was on the Permanent Committee and Board of Directors of the BIVB. Furthermore, he was a member of the National Committee of the INAO from 2007 to 2016.
About the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB)
The Bourgogne Wine Board is a professional organization that brings together all winegrowers and wine merchants from the Bourgogne region. Its role is to represent and protect the interests of Bourgogne winemakers and merchants, to define industry policy in technical, economic and marketing terms, and to conduct promotional activities.
Bourgogne is like a 30,000-hectare patchwork, representing just 0.5% of world wine production with an average of almost 200 million bottles annually. No other French region so neatly encapsulates the notion of terroir in such great quality wines. What makes Bourgogne wines stand out from the crowd is the intimate relationship between the soil, the influence of the microclimate, the grape variety, and the work of the winegrower.
Why we do not translate Bourgogne into Burgundy anymore? To re-affirm their identity, the region and the producers are reverting to the original French iteration of the name, Bourgogne. Bourgogne is our Family name and our appellations are our first names.