Delas Freres

In 1835, Charles Audibert and Philippe Delas purchased a wine merchant company in Tournon-sur-Rhône. Previously called Maison Junique, they renamed it Audibert and Delas. The links between the two familes would be pulled tighter when the two Delas sons, Henri and Florentin, married two Audibert daughters. In 1924, Henri and Florentin took over as managers of the company whose named they change to Delas Frères. They constantly developed the business, both on the merchant side and by acquiring vineyards in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and extending that of Hermitage. This helped ensure a constant production of quality wines. After the war, in 1945, the wines of Delas Frères had a “boom” period on export markets. They were sold, in barrels, in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva and in the United States as from 1952. In 1960 Michel Delas became the manager of a business known as one of the top firms in the Northern Rhône. He developed export markets, particularly South and Central America, and acquired, in 1974, vineyard plots in Côte Rôtie, and the Clos Boucher at Condrieu, which are currently farmed by his son-in-law.

In 1977, the firm of Delas Frères is bought by the Champagne firm of Deutz. The winery is re-sited in Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, near Tournon-sur-Rhône, at the foot of the vineyards of Saint Joseph. General management, as well as commercial, marketing and administrative functions are grouped at the Deutz premises at Ay, in the Marne area of Champagne. In 1993, both Deutz and Delas Frères became part of the Roederer Group, which decided to preserve their full autonomy in terms of management and commercial policy, appointing Fabrice Rosset as managing director in 1996.