Jean-Charles Boisset

Jean-Charles Boisset is the son of Jean-Claude and Claudine Boisset, who founded their family winery, Jean-Claude Boisset, Burgundy, France in 1961. In 1964, the winery acquired its first vineyard, Les Evocelles in the Gevrey-Chambertin commune. Boisset was born in Vougeot, France in 1969.

When Boisset was seven years old, he tried two wines from Burgundy: a 1969 Clos de Vougeot and a 1964 Bonnes Mares. He would eventually name a wine under his JCB label "No. 7," as a tribute to the first time he tried wine.

Boisset's grandparents were part of the French Resistance and his grandfather would go on to fight in World War II. His grandparents' involvement in the war led to their having a strong admiration for US citizens, and as a child, Boisset remembers his grandparents telling him stories about the US soldiers who helped free France. His grandparents encouraged him to visit the United States and to dream to live there one day.

At the age of 11, Boisset and his sister Nathalie visited the United States in 1981 for the first time with his grandparents. They visited California, specifically Monterey, San Francisco, and Sonoma. Their grandparents took them on a tour of Buena Vista Winery and later that day, Boisset's grandparents let him and his sister try a Buena Vista Winery Chardonnay that they had purchased during the winery visit. Regarding that wine, Boisset said "I was transfixed - such pure, elegant, and tropical notes that we did not know in Burgundy!" After their visit to the winery, Boisset suggested to his sister that he hoped to one day own a winery in California. In 2011, he would purchase Buena Vista.

As a young man, Boisset was less interested in wine than other pursuits. He almost became a professional footballer. He studied business and finance at the University of London, followed by graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Boisset met Gina Gallo, winemaker at Gallo Family Vineyards, in 2006 at a tasting room in Bordeaux. They were married in 2009 at the Fairmont San Francisco. The couple have twin girls, born in 2011.

In 2011, Boisset and Gallo purchased the former home of Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley. The family also has an apartment in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco and a home in Burgundy in France. The family travels to Burgundy several times a year, to spend time with Boisset's family and so their daughters can learn about the French culture.

Despite both of their roles in the wine industry, Boisset and Gallo do not officially collaborate on wine projects.