from louis xiii (1630)
to charles de gaulle

From winegrowers to engineers

The Méo family originates from the Burgundian village of Selongey, in the north of the Côte d'Or. Although today the vines have disappeared, in 1881 they covered almost 300 hectares, and the family's ancestors, as far back as the early 17th century, were all winegrowers and coopers...

From the mid-19th century onwards, the MEO children chose the path of public service. Jean-Nicolas' great-grandfather was a schoolteacher, his grandfather a civil engineer and his father Jean MEO a mining engineer. Jean would later become a member of the European Parliament and sit on the Council of Paris.

It was through Jean Méo's mother, Marcelle Lamarche-Confuron, who came from an old Vosne winegrowing family (already with a small trading activity) that the Méo family established themselves in Vosne-Romanée.

Jean Méo's grandmother was the first cousin of the colorful Etienne CAMUZET.

A winegrower in Vosne-Romanée, Etienne CAMUZET (1867-1946) was mayor of the village and deputy of the Côte d'Or from 1902 to 1932. He was very active in supporting viticulture, and even played a decisive role in getting the Chamber of Deputies to ratify the amendment enabling the creation of the Appellations d'Origine in 1919.

In 1920, he had the opportunity to buy the Château du Clos de Vougeot. As for the vines, it was the upper 20 hectares of the Clos that were for sale... Etienne Camuzet approached his fellow winegrowers in Vosne-Romanée to buy them. He himself kept 3ha, at the foot of the château, but did not live there, preferring to house his sharecroppers (with his political activities, he no longer had the time to run his own vineyards).
He sold it in November 1944: the château had indeed suffered from the war. He had (already!) understood the importance for Burgundy of having a temple of wine to help promote it. Etienne Camuzet therefore chose to hand it over to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.

When Etienne died in 1946, his daughter Maria Noirot-Camuzet inherited the estate from her father and kept the tenant farmers. But she had no children of her own, and when she died in 1959, she bequeathed the estate to her nephew Jean Méo, who at the time was working in General de Gaulle's cabinet.

Having spent time regularly with his uncle Etienne and lived in Vosne Romanée for part of his childhood, he was deeply attached to his village, and so decided to continue the history of the estate, first with the invaluable help of his father Gaston, then his mother. The tenant farmers recruited by the Camuzet family were confirmed in their leases.
Jean Méo was then able to stay with General de Gaulle and pursue his Parisian career, which led him to successively manage major companies: ELF, France Soir, the Havas agency, the Institut Français du Pétrole... He was also elected to the European Assembly and sat on the Paris City Council.
Throughout this period, he relied on four tenant farmers: Jean and Jacques Faurois, Jean Tardy and the great winemaker Henri Jayer. Jayer was one of the first to vinify with systematic temperature control, emphasizing freshness and fruit, and enhancing the wine's nose and texture. Jean Méo managed the estate from 1959 to 1984, when he called on the next generation of winemakers.

In 1981, Domaine Camuzet became Méo-Camuzet, and the first wines bottled under this name were those of the 1983 vintage.