Our origins

Our House Antonin Rodet has been rhyming with Mercurey since 1875, the year of the founding of the House, by Antoine Rodet, known as Antonin.

His father, Francois was a grocer in Chalon-sur-Saone and a clever businessman and quickly added the trade of wine-broker to his various activities. Chalon-sur-Saone at this time was an important hub in the wine trade. The town, in the 19th Century, with the arrival of the railway and important river traffic, experienced an important economic boom. The young Antoine thus learned about business dealings at a young age.

However, it was his marriage to Marie-Francoise Adenot, the daughter of a farming family based close to Mercurey which triggered the foundation of the future wine-merchant Antonin Rodet because the young woman’s inheritance provided Antoine with considerable land, which gave a framework to his new company.  Antoine did not hesitate to invest in the vineyard, despite the phylloxera epidemic.

Upon the death of Antoine, his son Antonin then aged 25, succeeded him at the head of the family business. At the time, Maison Antonin Rodet was a flourishing wine-merchant in full expansion. A businesss traveller since he was 16 years old, Antonin possessed experience of groundwork which he put to good use in bringing Maison Antonin Rodet into international markets. His youth and dynamism were major factors in the commercial development and enhanced reputation of his wines.

From generation to generation, although the Rodet family is no longer involved, the spirit of Antonin and his father lives on : fierce defenders of the vineyard of Southern Burgundy to which they dedicated their lives.