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The French like Brunello. Biondi Santi enters the EPI group

The French like Brunello. Biondi Santi enters the EPI group

Biondi Santi will be speaking French in the future. The famous winery from Montalcino has announced “a partnership of strategies and capital” with the French group EPI, owned by the Descours family.

Jacopo Biondi Santi remains the chairman

«This alliance with the Descours family is the occasion for us to back our activity to a group that shares our values: transmission of know-how, excellence in perpetuating our profession and creativity in the production of our wines. EPI will give us the necessary support for the development of our business and thus will help strengthening the influence of our wines and therefore of Brunello internationally», said Jacopo Biondi Santi. The EPI group has officially entered the company owning the iconic Brunello estate. The stake purchased is not known, but Jacopo Biondi Santi will remain the Chairman and winemaker of the new ownership.

A French Brunello. Biondi Santi-Descours agreement

Negotiations between the Biondi Santi and Descours families began in June. The official agreement, signed on 16th December, has silenced rumours identifying LVMH or Prada as potential partners for the winery in Montalcino. “The operation is in progress, it will conclude in January, the lawyers are already working on it. The idea is to create three companies between us and EPI (a holding, a production and a sales company) which will have the ownership of the winery, the brand and the bottles in the cellar,” said Jacopo Biondi Santi to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Fine Wines in the EPI group

Christopher Descours, Chairman of EPI, has confirmed the desire to invest more and more in the fine wine sector, where the group already owns top level wineries such as Champagne Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Château La Verrerie, in the Rhone valley. Buying Biondi Santi is perfectly in line with this strategy. The group includes other luxury brands (Bonpoint clothing, J.M. Weston shoes) and a finance division with diversified investments in the property sector.

Christopher Descours: we will continue to develop the Biondi-Santi wines

«I am delighted with this partnership between EPI, the Biondi-Santi estate and the Biondi Santi family, whose know-how, pioneering spirit and excellence echo the values of the brands part of the EPI group. We will continue to develop the Biondi-Santi wines, drawing on the experience and expertise of Jacopo Biondi Santi who will continue to preside Biondi-Santi. This is a perfect example of EPI’s ambition to develop brands with the highest level of excellence globally», explains Descours.

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