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 No strangers to generations of business acumen, they seem to have always found themselves ahead of the game by being in the right place at the right time. The Labruyeres are perhaps one of the only families to have a presence across 4 appellations - Domaine Labruyere at Moulin-a-Vent, Domaine Jacques Prieur at Bourgogne, Chateau Rouget at Pomerol and Champagne J. M. Labruyere at Verzenay. In 1976 Jean Pierre Labruyere leased out some of his land to Beringer, then a little known company in the heart of Napa Valley, a region just about to make its mark on the world’s stage. Fast forward to the next generation and they find themselves once again on foreign soil breaking all norms about world class wine producing – in India with Grover Zampa.
You wouldn’t be faulted for momentarily being confused whether you were listening to a French accent or Quebecois in Edouard Labruyere, a product of the prestigious McGill University at Montreal. As the sixth generation Labruyere and at the helm of the family (his generation has grown to 13 cousins) Edouard brings with him not just over a century’s worth of expertise and technical knowledge but also an entrepreneurial family streak in a commitment and desire to revive forgotten vineyards and produce outstanding iconic wines – much akin to his new extended family in Grover Zampa.
He minces no words in how they have remained “under the Parker radar all these years” and have stuck to their philosophy of maintaining their terroir for many generations to come. Passionate about sustainability and biodynamic farming methods, on his first visit to India, Edouard remains under no illusions that the aim is to first be financially viable.The Labruyeres have invested in Singapore based VisVires Capital that owns about 30% of Grover Zampa with Kapil Grover, Chairman Grover Zampa vineyards maintaining that there is no change in the holding structure of the company but emphasizing the lovely family chemistry on both sides that is very important to him.The generally reserved Ravi Viswanathan (VisVires Capital) for whom internationally recognized, quality Indian wine remains a passion and priority, excitedly shared how he managed to incite such passion amongst the Labruyere family in the blind tastings he held at their family home, even making them wonder whether one of the labels was from an unknown Cotes du Rhone producer! The Labruyeres invested without once having seen either of the facilities nor meeting anyone other than Ravi from the Grover Z team – the wine spoke for itself as it always has, raking up 57 international awards over the last 2 years alone!
 Inducted onto the Grover Zampa board less than a week ago, Edouard Labruyere was thrown into the deep end much to his liking, with a whirl wind tour of both the Nasik and Bangalore wineries in a span of 48 hours. Already his astute business sense and sound technical base has seen the two sides emerge with great synergy in a deeper understanding of each other’s strengths, a consolidation of common business practices and a more “balanced board”. The 10 board members Kapil Grover, Ravi Viswanathan, Edouard Labruyere, Karan Grover, Ravi Jain, Deepak Roy, Amit Bapna and Lav Chaturvedi from Reliance Capital along with Nilesh Jani and Arvind Uplenchwar, nominees from Dubai, come together as a formidable team with a master blend of their core skills in marketing, finance and growing/producing.
Both Edouard and Karishma have been privy to tutelage under the legendary Michel Rolland (coincidentally a consultant to both parties) at different stages in their lives, that has shaped their approach to wine making in the long run. Edouard is passionate about biodynamic farming methods and Karishma’s California exposure naturally leans her towards organic practices. As opposed to current methodology of merely relying on a team of visiting consultants with a stipulated number of days, this partnership means having a presence virtually year round for both sides. Sharing her thoughts on her interaction with Edouard and expectations moving forward, Karishma said, “It is always interesting to engage with technical people from different parts of the world; being in India there is a tendency to be isolated from the rest of the wine world and interactions like this are super welcome.The two sides share a very open and educational exchange, making for a very exciting future.”
Kapil Grover has been known to say, “2000 years ago the wine industry had its first miracle when Jesus converted water into wine. 2000 years later we wait for the second miracle of converting wine into money.” Grover Z has undoubtedly been at the forefront of setting the benchmark of great Indian wine and quality, with their new collaborators the Indian wine industry looks bright, opening up the premium segment in the very near future – perhaps that miracle Kapil seeks is just around the corner as they make great strides in their pursuit of excellence.
Babso Kanwar
Cheers! Jai Ho!!
(Jai Ho is my Indian equivalent of Cheers!) |