The Calvet Family & Wine :
A Six Generation Legacy

18th C. Calvet, doctor in Anse north of Lyon, invests in the wine business.

1808 Jean-Marie Calvet (1789-1873) creates his own wine merchant business in Tain L'Hermitage after having supervised his father's vineyards in the Rhone region. The company supplies Cotes-du-Rhone wine to Bordeaux, which was then blended with Gironde wines to create wines suitable for the English palate.

1818 Jean-Marie names his company Calvet-Richard et Roch.

1823 Company changes its name to Calvet et Cie.

1825 Calvet et Cie installs its first warehouses in Bordeaux on rue Boudet.

1849 Octave Calvet (1827-1886) opens Calvet et Cie offices in Bordeaux, while keeping offices and warehouses in Tain.

1870 Construction of the Maison Calvet buildings on Cours du Medoc with their imposing Louis XVI façade. The buildings eventually covered 30,000 m2 and could hold 60,000 barrels and more than 2 million bottles.

It was such a remarkable building that it became a tourist attraction, with visitors coming to see the cellars.

1870s Octave Calvet establishes offices, cellars and a distillery in Jonzac.

1878 Maison Calvet headquarters in Tain is closed following the devastation wrought by phylloxera in the Cotes du Rhone region. Maison Calvet begins working out of Beaune, but Bordeaux becomes the head office.

1890 Offices opened in London. Jean-Aime Calvet, son of Octave (1861-1946), concentrates his efforts on England. The Calvet's cornered the lion share of wine exported to England. Jean-Aime runs the company until his death in 1946.

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1895 (filiale) opens in Beaune, Burgundy.

1897 (filiale) in Buenos Aires, run by brother Georges Calvet. Argentina becomes the second largest market for the Calvets. The Calvets enjoy

a virtual monopoly.

1946 Daniel Calvet (1895-1949), son of Jean-Aimé, takes over the business in 1946 after the death of his father. This is immediately after World War II and the German occupation in Bordeaux and a difficult period because business needed to sales had slowed down.

1949 Jacques Calvet, the younger brother of Daniel, manages the business until Jean Calvet - the son of Daniel - officially takes over.

1958 Calvet receives the Prestige of France Diploma, which is given by the French Government to the best exporting company in France.

1966 Jean Calvet (1925), the 5th generation in direct line, takes over business. Under his management, Calvet consolidates its number one position as the largest négociant in France with a dominant market share in Europe.

1966 A fire destroys the buildings at the Cours du Medoc. The entire stock of 100 years of classified growths is destroyed. The company moves its activities to the Quai de Bacalan.

1970 Jean Calvet is one of the first négociants to visit Japan and to open up the market for French wines, with an historic agreement with the legendary house, Suntory.

1970 The new buildings, built on the ruins of the original site, are inaugurated by Mayor Chaban-Delmas.

1981 Jean-Christophe Calvet, the 6th generation, goes to work for Maison Calvet as Director of Exports.

1982 The Calvet family, led by Jean and his younger brother, Hubert, sells all of its holdings to the British company Whitbread, retaining only their ancestral residential properties and estates. Jean-Christophe remains with the English-held company as Director of Exports.

1984 Jean-Christophe Calvet leaves Maison Calvet and joins Julius Wile and Sons, the legendary wine importer in New York.

Jean-Christophe marries American Margaret Chung, a Harvard-educated investment banker.

1989 Jean Christophe joins the Groupe Remy Amerique in NY and eventually becomes VP of Marketing, USA. He is later promoted to position of Country Manager for Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador and eventually Managing Director of Remy Ireland.

1998 Jean Christophe leaves the Group Remy Cointreau. He and Margaret and their sons return to Bordeaux, buying the Eiffel family home in the historic wine district, just a few feet from the Calvet ancestral home on Jardin Public and down the road from the original Maison Calvet offices. Jean Christophe begins a small wine merchant operation.

2002 Jean Christophe and Margaret launch Aquitaine Wine Company in Bordeaux. Today, the company employs a full operations team in France and a dynamic sales team in the US. AWC exports to every US state, the UK and Asia, and produces their own branded wines.

The Calvet Family & Wine :A Six Generation Legacy

18th C. Calvet, doctor in Anse north of Lyon, invests in the wine business.

​

1818 Jean-Marie names his company Calvet-Richard et Roch.

​

1823 Company changes its name to Calvet et Cie.

1825 Calvet et Cie installs its first warehouses in Bordeaux on rue Boudet.

​

1849 Octave Calvet (1827-1886) opens Calvet et Cie offices in Bordeaux, while keeping offices and warehouses in Tain.

1870 Construction of the Maison Calvet buildings on Cours du Medoc with their imposing Louis XVI façade. The buildings eventually covered 30,000 m2 and could hold 60,000 barrels and more than 2 million bottles.

It was such a remarkable building that it became a tourist attraction, with visitors coming to see the cellars.

1870s Octave Calvet establishes offices, cellars and a distillery in Jonzac.

​

1878 Maison Calvet headquarters in Tain is closed following the devastation wrought by phylloxera in the Cotes du Rhone region. Maison Calvet begins working out of Beaune, but Bordeaux becomes the head office.

1890 Offices opened in London. Jean-Aime Calvet, son of Octave (1861-1946), concentrates his efforts on England. The Calvet's cornered the lion share of wine exported to England. Jean-Aime runs the company until his death in 1946.

1895 (filiale) opens in Beaune, Burgundy.

​

1897 (filiale) in Buenos Aires, run by brother Georges Calvet. Argentina becomes the second largest market for the Calvets. The Calvets enjoy

a virtual monopoly.

1946 Daniel Calvet (1895-1949), son of Jean-Aimé, takes over the business in 1946 after the death of his father. This is immediately after World War II and the German occupation in Bordeaux and a difficult period because business needed to sales had slowed down.

1949 Jacques Calvet, the younger brother of Daniel, manages the business until Jean Calvet - the son of Daniel - officially takes over.

​

1958 Calvet receives the Prestige of France Diploma, which is given by the French Government to the best exporting company in France.

1966 Jean Calvet (1925), the 5th generation in direct line, takes over business. Under his management, Calvet consolidates its number one position as the largest négociant in France with a dominant market share in Europe.

1966 A fire destroys the buildings at the Cours du Medoc. The entire stock of 100 years of classified growths is destroyed. The company moves its activities to the Quai de Bacalan.

1970 Jean Calvet is one of the first négociants to visit Japan and to open up the market for French wines, with an historic agreement with the legendary house, Suntory.

​

1970 The new buildings, built on the ruins of the original site, are inaugurated by Mayor Chaban-Delmas.

1981 Jean-Christophe Calvet, the 6th generation, goes to work for Maison Calvet as Director of Exports.

​

1982 The Calvet family, led by Jean and his younger brother, Hubert, sells all of its holdings to the British company Whitbread, retaining only their ancestral residential properties and estates. Jean-Christophe remains with the English-held company as Director of Exports.

1984 Jean-Christophe Calvet leaves Maison Calvet and joins Julius Wile and Sons, the legendary wine importer in New York.

​

Jean-Christophe marries American Margaret Chung, a Harvard-educated investment banker.

1989 Jean Christophe joins the Groupe Remy Amerique in NY and eventually becomes VP of Marketing, USA. He is later promoted to position of Country Manager for Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador and eventually Managing Director of Remy Ireland.

2002 Jean Christophe and Margaret launch Aquitaine Wine Company in Bordeaux. Today, the company employs a full operations team in France and a dynamic sales team in the US. AWC exports to every US state, the UK and Asia, and produces their own branded wines.

The Calvet Family & Wine :
A Six Generation Legacy