Jean-Luc Le Dû

Jean-Luc Le Dû hails from Gourin, a small village in Central Brittany (France). Having worked in the restaurant industry as a headwaiter in some of New York top restaurants since the late nineteen eighties (Bouley, Carlyle, Marie-Michelle), he was privileged to taste many great classic wines that shaped his palate. In his free time though, his passion was to find small artisanal producers from overlooked areas from the world and visit their vineyards.

In February 1995, Jean-Luc joined Restaurant Daniel. His expertise and passion for wine soon convinced Daniel Boulud to make him the Head Sommelier, a position he held with distinction until December 2004. During his tenure he expanded the wine list to almost 2000 selections from around the world and established one of the best wine programs in the United States, while also creating wine lists for the all the new restaurants opened under the Daniel Boulud banner (DB, Café Boulud – New York and Palm Beach)

While at Daniel, Jean-Luc won the title of Best Sommelier Northeast America in the 1997 Sopexa Competition. In August 2002 Jean-Luc’s wine list was awarded the Wine Spectator magazine’s “Grand Award”, as one of the best in the world. Shortly afterwards, after having been already nominated in 2000, he was awarded the James Beard Foundation 2003 Award for “Outstanding Wine Service”

Le Dû’s Wines, Jean-Luc’s temperature controlled wine store in New York City’s West Village, is the culmination of his expertise, featuring all his favorite winemakers in a simple, unassuming location. Selections are geared toward artisanal winemakers and wines that are a reflection of their terroir.

Jean-Luc also consults for publications such as Wine & Spirits (a member of its Advisory Tasting Panel) and Elle Décor, and has written food and wine pairing notes in Daniel Boulud’s Daniel’s Dish and Cooking in New York City. He has been featured in New York Magazine, House & Garden, and Vogue, among others, and in Jay McInnerney’s book Bacchus & Me and Karen Page and Andrew Donnenburg’s Dining Out.

His other passions are rock music, playing guitar, traveling and photography.

His website is: www.leduwines.com