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...
