JJ Mortier & Cie

The house

Louis Mortier, who owned Château Gombaud at Saint-André-de-Cubzac, founded the trading house J.J. Mortier in 1889. In 1900 he became manager of Château Lafite Rothschild and held the post until 1920, when his son Jean Jules Mortier succeeded him at Lafite and at the head of the house. G.A.K., the anonymous London author whose Clarets and Sauternes appeared that year, wrote that winemaking at Lafite “has long since been reduced to a fine art, under the direction of Monsieur Mortier, the manager”.

The house changed hands several times without losing its own direction. In 1966 Hervé Faugère, its chairman, arranged its sale to A. de Luze & Fils and stayed at its head, with its commercial independence intact. Bowater took over De Luze in 1973 and in 1981 sold it to the cognac house Rémy Martin. On October 1, 1989 the Japanese house Meidi-Ya, which had sold the house’s wines in Japan since early in the 20th century, became its owner. The name J.J. Mortier had been filed as a trademark for wine in Japan on May 27, 1967. Meidi-Ya itself went back to 1885, when Isono Hakaru opened a ship’s chandlery at Yokohama, and in 1888 it became the sole agent for Kirin beer.

In 1995 the house left the quai des Chartrons for new offices in Bordeaux and bought the merchant Bordeaux Consultants. On March 1, 1996 Jérôme Faugère succeeded his father at its head, and he retired on March 1, 2025, 29 years to the day.

At a glance

Kind

Négociant

Based in

Bordeaux

Founded

1889, by Louis Mortier

Owner

Meidi-Ya, since October 1, 1989

Direction

François Villars, chairman and chief executive, since March 1, 2025

In the record

Lafite, managed by Louis Mortier from 1900 and by Jean Jules Mortier from 1920