Mel and Janie are English and have been
in the wine and food business all their lives. They left
England to live in Aix en Provence, France in 1969 where
they started a company called Masterwines which exported
little known French wines to the USA. Soon after arriving
in France they met the famous French chef PAUL BOCUSE
and the Beaujolais producer GEORGES DUBOEUF and Mel began
promoting Paul Bocuse and Georges Duboeuf and their wines
in the USA in 1970. Mel traveled extensively with Paul
in America and was largely responsible for initially making
his name known in the USA. He arranged all the many original
dinners and TV shows for him (the dinner of the Century
at the Four Seasons in New York) amongst others. Mel was
also the first person to promote the wines of Georges
Duboeuf in the USA. Mel also specialized in selling and
promoting wines from France’s Rhone valley and co
authored with John Livingstone Learmonth the first major
book written on the Rhone called the WINES OF THE RHONE
which was published by Faber and Faber. Mel was one of
the first pioneers of the Rhone Valley and Languedoc wines.
In 1975, Mel and Janie left France with their three
children, Sophie, Amy and Charles, and moved to Denver
where Mel continued to build his wine business and Janie
started a career in the restaurant business. When in
France, Janie had spent a lot of time working in the
kitchens of many of the great chefs such as Paul Bocuse
in Lyon, Troisgros in Roanne and with Roger Verge in
Mougins and so when arriving in Denver she created one
of the best known and most loved restaurants, Dudley’s
on 6th Avenue. DUDLEY’S, DENVER was a collaboration
between Janie, Mel and their friend Blair Dudley Taylor
and was named as one of the top restaurants in the country
by Bill Rice in his book “Where to Eat in America”.
It was also at this time that Mel and Janie started
an organization known as LA JEUNE GASTRONOMY to promote
the great up and coming chefs of the world. They arranged
a dinner in Denver at their restaurant Dudley’s
with the famous New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme and
the famous French chef Alain Dutourier from Paris. Another
dinner was held at continued...
