Page 52 - Forbes - USA (March 2020)

The James Bond of Burgundy Cont.

the way we looked at it,” he says. That includes his not-so-secret identity, Agent
He closed on DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma 69, an ersatz James Bond who brandishes swords
instead in 2003. Boisset then began spending and rescues women—and wine—at lavish par-
more time in California as DeLoach transitioned ties and in several very campy videos. It’s some-

to biodynamic farming based on the lunar cycle. times difficult to tell where the serious wine-

50 In 2007 he acquired the 300-acre estate of Ray- maker ends and the louche alter ego begins. At

mond Vineyards in St. Helena. Boisset finally se- Raymond’s tasting room, visitors on tours are
cured Buena Vista in 2011, after trying at least HOW TO PLAY IT ushered past industrial tanks and mannequins
E
F four times. hanging upside-down on fuzzy red swings, wear-
I According to
L
After an acquisition, Boisset has three main Charlie Munger ing sheer bras and leopard-print leggings.
•
strategies: First, every vineyard transitions to or- Boisset has also commoditized his hyperactive
N Choice grapes
A ganic farming. Next, he increases the price of the and branding libido. With Swarovski, JCB produces lines of
I genius are at the
R wines, usually around 30% to 40%. (In the case of jewelry, one of which, Confession, features hand-
A heart of the busi-

R Raymond, the retail value of several bottles more ness of vintner cuffs. There’s also a red wine called Restrained.
T than doubled to $45 each.) Finally, the wines are Jean-Charles The bottle is fastened with a leather bondage
N
O marketed with the rest of the collection to more Boisset and his harness and O-ring.
C $350 The Surreal-
than 600 partners worldwide. Buena Vista, De- ist cabernet sau- Boisset’s business partners say they’re not put

Loach and Raymond, for example, are now sold vignon. For that off. “He doesn’t hide who he is,” says Dina Opici,
price, you could
in more than 20 countries each. Because Bois- president of her family’s New Jersey–based wine-
have bought
set’s wines range from $15 to $2,600, this system the equivalent and-spirits distribution company, who has known

streamlines the buying process for distributors of 38 bottles of Boisset for 15 years. “It is really genuine. He’s well-
Kirkland Signa-

who can mix and match for different accounts. ture cabernet, intentioned.”
“In Europe, if you come from Burgundy, you’re sold at Costco, With 10 wineries in the U.S. and a growing
a wholesale club
on the upper scale,” Boisset says. “But it’s too much private-label business, Boisset must now contend
that generates

stratification of society, perceived value and histo- upward of $2 bil- with an overcrowded wine market amid fast-
ry based on heritage rather than who you are. In lion in wine sales growing categories such as hard seltzer and le-
a year. While
the U.S. you could come from wherever, whoever, galized cannabis. Last year, Americans’ wine con-
Costco’s vino is
whatever. It’s about you. That’s what I really val- cheap, its stock sumption declined for the first time in 25 years,

ue. That’s what allowed me to become who I am.” has aged like a according to trade group IWSR.

Lafite Rothschild,
returning an But opportunities beyond wineries abound. Last
annualized 17% year was particularly busy: Boisset acquired the
since its 1985 nearly 140-year-old Oakville Grocery and founded
IPO, versus 10.7%

for the S&P 500. Napa’s first wine-history museum. He also opened
Thanks no doubt a strip mall called JCB Village in Yountville that
to urging by
longtime Costco features a tasting room, a day spa and a boutique
board member that sells JCB label candles and dress socks along
and shareholder with Baccarat decanters inspired by Boisset’s own
Charlie Munger,
Berkshire Hatha- collection, which is the largest in the world. Amid
way has a sizable declining Napa tourism, he has opened lounges
position in its outside the valley at the Ritz-Carlton in San Fran-
stock. In recent
years, savvy wine cisco, Ghirardelli Square’s Wattle Creek and the
shoppers have Rosewood Hotel in Palo Alto.
helped Costco
maintain 5% Boisset insists his luxury empire will continue
growth, even to take years to build—and will withstand threats,
as competitor be they wine tariffs, climate change or compet-

Amazon has laid

siege to many itors. “You don’t build a luxury business in five
brick-and-mortar minutes,” he says. “Besides LVMH and Pernod Ri-
retailers.
card, two monsters, no one has had our journey.
The American way of life drove me here.” F

FI NAL THO U G HT
“A BOTTLE OF WINE CONTAINS TIM PANNELL FOR FORBES
Crystal Clear MORE PHILOSOPHY THAN ALL
THE BOOKS IN THE WORLD.”
Boisset has a longstanding collaboration with Swarovski—
the collection includes a brooch of his wife Gina Gallo’s lips. —Louis Pasteur

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