Tatiana Copeland

TATIANA COPELAND

PROPRIETOR / PRESIDENT

For Tatiana, the spirit of discovery and commitment to creating a unique and exceptional experience at Bouchaine is simply the natural extension of her roots. Heir to a remarkable legacy, Tatiana’s family tree includes such luminaries as her mother's uncle, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, and her grandmother, the first woman to drive a car through Moscow’s Red Square. A true polyglot, Tatiana fluently speaks Russian, French, Spanish, German and English.

While her heritage reaches back over 1,000 years in Russia, Tatiana’s personal story began in Dresden, Germany, where she was born. After living in Denmark for several years, the family emigrated to Argentina where she would spend most of her childhood. She says, recalling family gatherings, “As far back as I can remember, we enjoyed wine with our meals.”

The family then moved to California where Tatiana enrolled at UCLA and quickly began what would become an impressive academic and professional career. At UCLA, she would make Phi Beta Kappa before graduating summa cum laude, ranking first in her class of 500. She then went on to earn her M.B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley.

At a time when women in business were rare, Tatiana went to work for Price Waterhouse before putting her multi-cultural perspective, extensive linguistic skills, and strategic business thinking to use at the DuPont Company’s European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Soon after she returned to DuPont in Delaware, she met her future husband, Gerret Copeland. They quickly discovered a shared appreciation of beauty, a love of fine wine and food, and a strong commitment to philanthropy.

Tatiana has made it her personal challenge to use her business know-how, leadership skills and community standing to help benefit the world of music, art and culture. She serves on the board of The Grand Opera House (Wilmington’s historic opera house) and was Chairman of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. She donated a sculpture garden to the Delaware Art Museum and underwrote the new student center at the Delaware College of Art & Design. Her efforts in helping to recreate the “Kalmar Nyckel” (a full-size replica of the ship which brought the first Swedish settlers to America in the 1600s) resulted in her effigy being immortalized with a life-size carving at the ship’s bow. She also loves to look out for the underdog — literally. After Hurricane Katrina, Tatiana helped rescue 150 dogs abandoned in New Orleans. She also helped to rescue over 250 dogs and cats from the after-effects of Hurricane Florence in North Carolina.

Both Tatiana and Gerret are deeply committed to the arts and have recently established a unique model of community philanthropy for the long-term stabilization of arts and culture in their home state of Delaware. In appreciation of this effort, they were awarded the “Order of the First State,” the highest honor for meritorious service to the State of Delaware, which was granted to them by Governor Jack Markell.

In May 2022, in the presence of President Biden, The University of Delaware awarded honorary doctoral degrees in the field of humanities to Tatiana and Gerret Copeland. The University of Delaware is the President's alma mater. In October 2022, the Brandywine Valley SPCA named their new 20,000-square-foot facility the “Copeland Center for Animal Welfare”. This groundbreaking building provides low-cost veterinary care and comprehensive shelter needs to meet the growing demands for services in the community. Tatiana’s long-term commitment to women’s healthcare needs continues to make a tremendous difference in the lives of many women in and around the state of Delaware. In recognition of her dedication, Delaware’s Christiana Care Hospital named its breast cancer facility “The Tatiana Copeland Breast Center” in November 2022. In December 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Tatiana Copeland to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The board is composed of government officials and individuals appointed directly by the President of the United States.

Today, Tatiana continues to exercise her business acumen. Her pencil is at its sharpest when she is balancing the art of winemaking with the bottom-line at Bouchaine. “With my CPA background, where Bouchaine is concerned, my head is constantly battling my heart — and sometimes even my husband,” she laughs. “We need to be financially responsible as well as make exceptional wines. Like searching for the Holy Grail, it’s a challenge, but I think we are succeeding.”