The death of Louis-Fabrice Latour, figure of Burgundy wines

Louis-Fabrice Latour, Chairman of the Management Board of Maison Louis Latour, died in Beaune (Côte d’Or) on the night of September 5 to 6, at the age of 58. “He was Burgundy and greatly contributed to the soul of the region”, does not hesitate to say, not without emotion, Albéric Bichot, president of the Federation of traders-breeders of Great Burgundy (FNEB), who loses a childhood friend at the same time as an alter ego in the wine trade . Born on February 29, 1964 in Beaune, Louis-Fabrice Latour represented the eleventh generation of his family to ensure the destiny of the Beaune trading house, which he had directed since 1999.

The 225^e The Maison Louis Latour harvest, which is in full swing, will therefore be marked by the absence of this man, recognized as affable and benevolent by all his collaborators. “He was very concerned about the welfare of the people working in the company. There are even families of employees who follow one another from generation to generation in Maison Latour”underlines his cousin Jérôme Gautheret, journalist at World.

If he maintained the paternalistic spirit in his family business, a member of the Henokiens (an association that only brings together family and independent businesses at least two hundred years old), Louis-Fabrice Latour had a passion for public life and the media. . This graduate of Sciences Po Paris was a great reader of the press: like no corner of his vineyard, no national and international news escaped him. He was also a member of the Century. “He was curious. Leaving a trace in history was a concern for him »testifies his press officer, Eric Touchat.

“He was still running the business”

Thanks to the permanence of his family since 1731 in the Burgundy vineyard, Louis-Fabrice Latour had a unique perspective on the events: “The House went through the French Revolution and two world wars, it is not the Covid-19 that will destroy it”, he had said. If he was not revolutionary, he had a clear vision of the future. “The export of Burgundy wines was one of its spearheads. He had devoted much of his time and energy to clearing markets and conquering new commercial horizons.testifies Albéric Bichot.

Louis-Fabrice Latour, who worked on the London market then in Paris, within BNP Paribas as executive assistant, before joining his father in the family business in 1989, has never stopped working for the community. He was notably president of the FNEB from 2003 to 2014, president of the Federation of wine and spirits exporters from 2011 to 2014, deputy president then president of the Interprofessional Bureau of Burgundy wines from 2013 to 2021. At the same time, he extended the already strong family properties of 48 hectares only of grands and premier crus in Côte de Nuits (Chambertin, Romanée-Saint-Vivant) and in Côte de Beaune (Corton-Charlemagne, Chevalier-Montrachet). The one who preferred to develop in Greater Burgundy rather than abroad, like some of his colleagues, convinced the hundred of his shareholders, who form the management board of Maison Latour, to acquire in Chablis (Yonne) the domain Simonnet-Febvre in 2003 and Henry Fessy in Beaujolais in 2008, as well as the Pierres Dorées. Before him, his father, Louis, had preferred to expand outside the region, in Ardèche and in the Var.

“Like the whole of Burgundy, Maison Latour has never been in such good shape. Louis-Fabrice is leaving us just as she is reaping the fruits of her labor. He always succeeded in convincing us with enthusiasm. His last decision was the conversion of the vineyard to organic cultivation. Until ten days before his death, he was still running the business”, says Jérôme Gautheret. Knight of the Legion of Honor since 2011, Louis-Fabrice Latour had invested in the application of the Climats of Burgundy to the UNESCO World Heritage and had tackled the defense of the hill of Corton for which he worked , so that she finds the cross of Charlemagne. He will be buried nearby, in the Aloxe-Corton family cemetery. Married since 1995, Louis-Fabrice Latour leaves behind an eldest daughter of 25 years old and three boys, the youngest of whom is 12 years old.