Depre (wine trading company)

The company Depre was founded by Philip Depre, captain of the army of Napoleon . There is a legend according to which, during the battle of Borodino, Depré was injured and fell in love with a sister of mercy , who was caring for him in a hospital. The family of the chosen one, Anna Frantsevna Riss, owned a mansion on Petrovka , where Depra founded the first shop in 1820 ^[1] . The authorized capital amounted to 8000 rubles ^[2] .

In 1825, Depres joined the 2 merchant guild and gained the right to trade throughout Russia.

In 1834, he joined the 1st Guild of merchants and received the right to export goods ^[1] . During his stay in Moscow, representatives of the Imperial family, Depreux supplied wine and vodka, for which in 1837 he received the right to place the state emblem on his products ^[3] .

In 1895, after the death of the son of the founder of the company, Camille Depre, the partnership “K. F. Depreux. " The capital of the partnership was 1 million rubles. It was divided into 500 shares of 2000 rubles ^[4] .

In 1901, the Moscow Real Estate Joint Stock Company Depre and Co. was established. The company acquired, reconstructed and operated houses both in Moscow and in other cities. Fixed capital amounted to 1 million rubles, divided into 500 shares of 2000 rubles each ^[1] .

In 1903, the Depres received a restaurant “Medved” on account of a debt of 100 thousand rubles (St. Petersburg, 27 Bolshaya Konyushennaya , in the house of von Derviz) ^[5] . The institution served dishes of Russian and French cuisine. The restaurant was popular among theater-goers, senior military officials and actors of imperial theaters ^[6] .

Descendants of Philippe Depres lived in France, but periodically came to Russia to update tickets for accommodation.

The shares of the company were periodically distributed both between the children of Camille Depre and among other people who stood at the origins of the enterprise: Robert Guichard, Edmond Foure and the hereditary nobleman F. Bogomolets (the only citizen of the Russian Empire who owned the shares of Depre).

In 1905, a contract was signed between the Depre Partnership and the Specific Department for the exclusive supply of department wines to Depre stores. The L. Bauer Partnership and the P. A. Smirnov Trading House also claimed this contract ^[7] .

In 1907, the charter capital of the Partnership was increased to 2 million rubles.

In 1914, in connection with the outbreak of World War I, the sale of alcohol was banned. However, the company Depre had special permission to trade and in the difficult year of 1915, the net profit of the company amounted to 960 thousand rubles ^[8] .

The Depre company offered more than 200 types of alcoholic beverages: port , cognac , Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, champagne and Rhine wine, dessert wines, Madeira and sherry , rum , arak, liquors , porter and ale ^[9] . Especially popular among Muscovites was “Port No. 113” ^[10] .

In addition to Moscow, the Depre Partnership had branches in St. Petersburg , Kharkov and Kiev , at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair . Warehouses of the company were in many cities of the Russian Empire, many restaurants of a high price category offered Depre products. In Voronezh, Depre warehouse was located at the Maxim restaurant (Bolshaya Moskovskaya street), and at the Bristol restaurant (Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya street). In Kursk - at the restaurant of the hotel "European" (Generalnaya street) ^[11] .

By the 1890s, the Depre family house on Petrovka was dilapidated, and a decision was made to reconstruct it. Architect Roman Klein designed the building in an eclectic style. The center of the building was decorated with a bas-relief depicting two men carrying a vine - this is what the Depre trademark looked like. On the ground floor, the Depre brand wine store was located, as well as a music and hunting store. In the basement was a rens cellar . On the second floor there was an office of the company and expensive apartments for rent. On the third floor were apartments of a lower price category. On the fourth lived the owners of the company ^[1] .

In Soviet times, the building housed Vintorg, Samtrest, and various publishing houses. In 2004, the building was renovated.

It is known that Gogol and Herzen bought wine from Depreux. In "Drama on the Hunt," A.P. Chekhov mentions Benidictin from Depreux .

Saltykov-Shchedrin described wine purchased from Depre

“Inviting guests to me, for my own peace of mind, I wish that they were all equally happy, and my heart would not cease to worry until they had the sweet confidence that indeed all guests are served the same meal, which can’t be served in a salad to meet a flaw and that at the rear end of the table, just like at the front, guests are fed with wine from Depreux, and not from Zazykin or Terlikov ^[12] ”

V. Gilyarovsky describes how they tried to earn money on the name of Depre, producing fakes similar in appearance:

- So that there were wines from Depreux: cognac No. 184, port No. 211 and No. 113 ... With a pink label. Do you know? - An experienced merchant orders, having studied in the taverns the brands of then-fashionable wines.

- I’m listening ... Only for this price I will have to cut in half.

- Well, in half so in half. On the main table of the eagle, and on the rear crow ...

Eagle and Crow - and both Depres!

There were two clerks at the vodka producer Peter Smirnov - Karzin and Bogatyryov. They departed from him and opened their own wine cellar in Zlatoustinsky Lane, began to pour their wines, of course, an abomination. These wines did not go. The company was about to burn out, but fortunately, a ragged man came to them once and offered some project, and when he showed them his passport, they both were delighted: the passport included Caesar Depre.

The label is pink, and black, and white ... It’s exactly copied from Depre ... Well, who will peer ... who will understand that C. Depre has an eagle on the label, and that C. Depre has a crow without a crown.

And at the balls and weddings and at commemorative dinners, where the people were "gray", there was wine "with a crow" ... For a long time this went on, but ended in court. ^[13] "

The lawsuit of Depre was not satisfied.

It is known that Camille Depre actively engaged in charity work, in particular, he helped the Basmanny department of guardianship of the poor ^[14] .