Catherine, daughter of a winemaker from the Beaujolais region, and Laurent, a fifth-generation wine merchant in Burgundy, met in 1986 while studying oenology. Towards the end of his course, Laurent met a wine farmer from Napa Valley – and future husband of his cousin living in the United States. He consequently spent almost a year in the United States and then returned to France with a completely new outlook and keen desire to create his own brand of wine varieties. In the early 1990s, Burgundy offered few prospects for the young oenologist. Laurent and Catherine therefore decided to explore Languedoc, which was undergoing major changes. Due to the many different locations and varietals, Languedoc’s vineyards seemed like an Eldorado to them, where they would be able to create wine compositions by following their imagination: balanced wines of great character that are typical of their varietals. At a trade fair, Catherine and Laurent made the acquaintance of Melvyn Master, who is very familiar with the US market. The three of them decided to jointly establish a brand of French varietal wines. An innovative venture, since traditionally France tends to have wines of origin rather than varietal wines. The brand was named Les Jamelles, a female name intended to emphasise the rounded character of the wines. Given the tremendous success of Les Jamelles, there is now an ultra-modern wine cellar of the same name, where the wines are matured.