A Wine of Today
with Roots in the 18th Century

Be Bordô wines were launched in 2012, carrying on a longstanding family trading tradition.

With its emblem of a ship sailing in a crescent moon, the Be Bordô labels evoke the curved shape that earned the Port of Bordeaux its nickname of the Port de la Lune (Port of the Moon), a nod to the generations that preceded Stéphane Quien. The Quien family originally came from Holland and have written two centuries of a history of seafaring and adventure, driven by a passion for wine and trading.

1788

F. Quien Amsterdam was an established trading company that imported sugar, rice, spices, coffee and chocolate from all over the world for sale throughout Europe.

1877

Part of the Quien family decided to develop its business when Gustav Quien set up as a wine trader in the Chartrons District of Bordeaux. He was soon trading with the French colonies.

Photo: Bordeaux in 1890 (by F. Hugo d’Alesi).

The roaring twenties

Otto Quien, the great nephew of Gustave and grandfather of Stéphane, was born in Shanghai in 1902 and took over the wine trading business in the 1920s. His father was also a successful trader and was to go on to play a part in building the Port of Shanghai.

The adventure of Cognac

Otto was soon to take an interest in Asia and the United States, becoming a pioneer in exporting Cognac to these two continents. Sales of Quien Cognac reached their peak after the Second World War.
Otto Quien was then brought in to set up and head the export department of Rémy Martin. He was the key architect of the success of the brand and remained there until 1970. He was to continue travelling the world until his dying breath.

Photo: Otto Quien in Asia in the 1950s.

2012

After two years of market studies and working with wine professionals, the Be Bordô concept saw the light of day. The brand highlights the region’s many qualities with the conviction that a modern Bordeaux wine must be accessible, fun and elegant.

2016

A little less than a century after Otto Quien’s exploration across the Atlantic, Be Bordô is officially distributed in New-York.

The brand is also present in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Dubai, China, the UK, Canada, Turkey and Belarus.