We had one simple job back in 1990; to make sure that the quality of the wine we had started to vinify, bottle, and label ourselves was delicious … oh, and commercial enough for our customers. Paul Boutinot had already started to find those growers, negotiants, courtiers who could find us the grapes and cuvées that helped us produce a bottle of wine that we’d all enjoy drinking and selling.

He kept their addresses and telephone numbers in a blue box. Thank God we took a picture.

But we needed someone on the ground, out there in France, so Jane Hunt MW put the word out (no recruitment consultants, no Indeed) and someone told us about someone working in the marketing department of the Wine Society but who had an amazing palate and could “find finesse and complexity” in any wine she tasted. That person is Samantha Bailey. Her interview was “held” over the kitchen sink (no posh spittoons then) with small bottles comprising different tanks, and she put about blending them. She passed.

So, Sam left for France, on her own, with Paul’s blue box and Deb’s redundant textbook.

We couldn’t afford an office so she “cuckooed” in the offices of Jacques Depagneux, a grower in the heart of Beaujolais. We imported his wines (remember Chateau de Lacarelle Beaujolais Villages? A decent drop.) Instinctively, Sam would answer the phone “Bonjour, Maison Boutinot … “ and it went from there.

Now 35 years on, Sam’s still fussing over finding, blending and bottling our French wines with Guillaume Letang. Luckily, we’ve now got an office, still situated in the Beaujolais region. It’s called Boutinot France.

Sustainability

Maison Boutinot wines are sourced from across France. As part of this sourcing process we not only look for outstanding quality from our grower partners, but where possible we source from sustainably certified vineyards. Many of the Maison Boutinot wines have HVE Level 3 Certification. This recognises a high level of commitment to protecting and enriching the environment with the focus on biodiversity conservation, plant protection strategy, management of fertiliser use and management of water. Alongside this, some of the wines are formerly certified Organic.