Wednesday, 20 August, 2014
AFP
Nicolas Feuillatte, the man who gave his name to the largest cooperative in Champagne, has died at the age of 88.
The Champagne
magnate, who made his fortune in the United States, began making wine
in his home country in 1976, after a celebrity lifestyle as a coffee
trader, diplomat and member of the New York jetset.
Born on January 29, 1926 to a family of Parisian merchants, Feuillatte
struck out alone in the U.S. in the aftermath of World War II, where he
made a fortune importing coffee. So successful was he that the Ivory
Coast government gave him a diplomatic passport and entrusted the
marketing of their coffee and cocoa to him.
A popular figure in New York, he organized parties at which he became
friends with the likes of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis and Lauren Bacall.
Aged 40, he returned home, after buying a 12-hectare (30-acre) vineyard
at Domaine de Bouleuse, near Reims, and began making Champagne, which he
sold to his celebrity friends.
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