Boisset exits spirits biz to “focus on super- and ultrapremium wine”

Jean-Charles Boisset, the firm’s scion, today confirmed a published French report that the family firm, Boisset Vins et Spiritueux, has sold its entire spirits portfolio to La Martiniquaise, a Paris-based company that is the second-largest spirits group in France, with 24% of that country’s market share.

Reached in San Francisco, where he had just returned after penning the deal in France, Boisset explained the family’s decision to sell. “Spirits was a very good business to be in, but it’s a very competitive marketplace, more and more controlled by major international companies, so we felt we could be much stronger by focusing on one business, super- and ultra-premium wine.”

Jean-Charles Boisset

Last year, Boisset sold the American part of its spirits division to Kentucky-based  Heaven Hill Distillers. Among the spirits brands La Martiniquaise acquires from Boisset are The Greyhound Scotch Whisky and Rhum du Verso. But Boisset said his company will keep their popular Idol Vodka, since it’s made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.

Boisset is the largest winery in Burgundy, second largest in Beaujolais, and #3 in the Rhone. Its California properties include DeLoach and Lyeth.

Boisset  would not reveal the selling price, but said the cash will be used “to further organic [practices] in our existing brands, to identify strategic opportunities in the premium wine business in North America, and to develop our Cremant de Bourgogne sparkling wine business.” The company’s new name, he added, will be Boisset Family Estates.