Aiming at excellence, the house established in 1862 by Paul Joanne specialized in Grands Crus as from the 90s. Five generations succeeded each other and it now is managed by three Castéja brothers, Pierre Antoine, Olivier and Eric.
To satisfy a necessarily demanding international clientele on fine wines, Joanne made huge investments to create storage space with a total surface area of 14,500 sqm, completely air-conditioned, with a constant temperature from the ground to the ceiling. To guarantee the flawless traceability of the bottles and boxes during their period of storage at Joanne, the company equipped itself with a system of optical reading which redraws the slightest movements and temperatures, from the entrance in the stock to the delivery to the final customer. Sheltering about 6 million bottles for 4,000 references, the place are highly secure.
Today Joanne is at the 2nd place of the customs' classification for its export turnover, just behind Castel. In 2009, a subsidiary was created in the United States and the house is also present in China and Hong Kong.
The house became a major player of the wine trade in Bordeaux, especially for the En Primeurs. Every year at that period, the warehouse becomes the special theater of privileged tastings for selected customers. A dozen temporary lounges are set up in the paths of the storehouse. The wines are served at a temperature of 17.5°C (such as exactly checked) and bottles are manipulated with the greatest care by a qualified staff.
For the Castéja family, all is not only business. It is above all a love story. Love for wine (the family is owns chateaus in Bordeaux), good things, beautiful works. Joanne is one of the sponsors of the Cité des Civilisations du Vin (under construction in Bordeaux) that the company considers as a great educational and cultural tool. Found of photography, Pierre Antoine uses his warehouses as a gallery: immense macro-pictures of spiralling vine are showcased alongside the paths. In the entrance, a temporary exhibition for local artists adds to the delight that we already feel, surrounded with these Grand Crus laid down here.
It is not a surprise then, in this artistic atmosphere, that three aesthetes and epicureans meet over a lunch on last April. Pierre-Antoine had invited Best Sommelier of the World Paolo Basso to join another major figure of the wine world: Bernard Magrez who imposes his lively look and his self-taught carreer.
By way of apertif, Pierre Antoine gave Paolo Basso the occasion of an overview of the 2014 vintage of some iconic chateaus of Bordeaux among which the estates of the Magrez vineyards.
Later, the three men, all 'artists' of the wine world, could exchange about their respective projects. Paolo Basso told the genesis of his first vintage Il Rosso di Chiara, Bernard Magrez evoked the opening of the Grande Maison with Joël Robuchon, as well as his Stradivarius "Fombrauge", laughed about the 1st marathon of Bordeaux crossing in his vineyards at Pape Clément... The atmosphere became more conniving and the 41-estate man confided his difficult debut which gave him the fighting spirit to build himself, as much as his empire. And at the evocation of Italy, Paolo Basso's homeland, the conquering spirits of the Best Sommelier of the World and the craftsman of excellence connected. To be continued...
Sylvia van der Velden
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