Carol Duval-Leroy and sons Julien, Charles and Louis. Champagne Duval Leroy
The extraordinary story of Carol Duval-Leroy’s work at Champagne Duval-Leroy is a testament to one person’s determination, energy and self-belief.
Carol succeeded in growing Champagne Duval-Leroy to the 15th largest Champagne house and exporting its wines to over 50 countries.
Carol moved from Belgium to Champagne in 1981 to marry Jean-Charles Duval-Leroy and the two were blissfully happy together, but only for a decade before he died prematurely. Fortunately they’d found time to produce three sons together, who are all now deeply involved in the Champagne house that Carol built from a medium-sized business to a major Champagne house. When Jean-Charles died, no-one in Champagne expected Carol to continue. Other houses flocked in with offers to buy her out. But she had made a pact with Jean-Charles to continue the work he had started, to build new cellars and offices and expand the brand.
Almost single-handedly, Carol opened export markets all over the globe. She battled not only the ultra-competitive market, but a male-dominated industry which refused to take a woman in her role seriously. As she repeatedly writes in her memoir “Femme de Champagne”, she always saw herself as a ‘regent’, a custodian, the person entrusted—temporarily—with the keys, to preserve the house and transmit it to the next generation. She was not only a woman, but a foreigner, and a mother: she had to bring up a family —alone—at the same time as running a seriously demanding business.
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
