Gina Gallo and Jean-Charles Boisset are inarguably the best known wine couple in the world. Their stories, separately and together, are inspiring and magical. As a very private couple who are parents of young twin daughters, they rarely appear together at public events. So it is truly special that they agreed to serve as co-chairs of this year’s 25th anniversary Cincinnati International Wine Festival.
The Festival’s story is very compelling, enough to ignite Gallo’s and Boisset’s interest in leading the event March 4-7. Twenty-five years ago, Festival founder Russ Wiles decided it was time for Cincinnati to “kick it up a notch” on exposure to fine wines, and to do something good for the community at the same time. Thus was born a tradition of doing good while doing well, which has become one of the Midwest’s largest annual wine events. Over the past 24 years, the Festival has donated over $4.2 million to more than 30 local charities through a combination of the March Festival events and the Russ Wiles Memorial Golf Tournament held annually in June.
Tradition is something that Gina Gallo’s family knows quite well. In Europe it is not unusual for a sixth or seventh generation family member to take over the family enterprise as winemaker. In the U.S., where according to Time Magazine the wine industry only began to “explode” in the early 1970s, it is unusual to have even a second generation take over winery operations, never mind a third. And though the majority of winery inheritors are male, it is increasingly common for daughters and granddaughters to take the helm. In the forward to Women of the Vine written in 2007 by Deborah Brenner, Gallo posits that “(t)he world of wine is neither a man’s world nor a woman’s…as we enter a true Golden Age for wines, women are increasingly visible as leaders in every aspect of winegrowing and winemaking.”
Gina is a granddaughter of the late Julio Gallo, and great-niece of Ernest Gallo, brothers who started E. & J. Gallo wines in 1933. After first studying viticulture and enology at University of California (Davis), Gina became winemaker in 1991 for the Signature Series at what is today called the Gallo Family Vineyards. Her brother Matt has grown the winery’s grapes during that same period. With more than 70 brands from nine countries, Gallo is the world’s largest family owned winery, the largest exporter of California wine, and the largest winery in the United States. From Brenner’s interview with Gina Gallo: “I create wine, I absolutely love it, but the thing I love best is that at the end of the day you put that bottle on the table with family and friends.”
Creating an unusual story in tradition-steeped France, Jean-Charles Boisset is a second-generation winemaker, equally enterprising with global reach. His parents, Jean-Claude and Claudine, founded Boisett Family Estates in 1961 in the prestifious Gevrey-Chambertin commune of Burgundy. Today, Jean-Charles is the president of the Boisset Collection which, in addition to the original Jean-Claude Boisset label, includes nine California properties such as Sonoma’s Buena Vista Winery and Napa’s Raymond Vineyards, ten French still wine brands, and four French sparkling (cremant) brands. All of the family’s estate properties in Burgundy and California are farmed using organic and Biodynamic practices. “The Boisset Collection unites the old and the new worlds of wine with its Franco-American spirit and wineries on two continents.” (www.boissetcollection.com/about/history)
The power couple, who met in 2006 and married in 2009, are clearly masters of their universes on two continents. When in France, they live in the famous village of Vougeot where Jean-Charles grew up, and in California, home is the sprawling property in Yountville with a lofty view of the Napa Valley built for wine pioneer Robert Mondavi.
I can’t wait to meet Gallo and Boisset in person! If you share my enthusiasm, please join me at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival where more than 600 wines from over 100 countries will be featured. Gold, silver and bronze medal winners from a juried tasting will be presented at the Grand Tastings on Friday and Saturday March 6 & 7. Advance tickets are on sale online until March 1 for the co-chairs dinner, winery dinners around town at 10 fantastic restaurants, grand tastings and Saturday morning’s charity auction (which includes a luncheon).
It’s for a great cause, and you’ll have a blast!