Accused of engaging in anti-German activity, a result of his suspected role in the French Resistance, Maurice remained in prison for several months. While in custody, he often wrote to his wife, Pauline, about how best to safeguard their cellar and the Drouhin business. It was on a visit to see her husband that Pauline delivered the news of an exciting opportunity: DRC was prepared to sell half of its business, and Maison Joseph Drouhin, their largest distributor, could acquire a significant portion of the estate. While imprisoned, Maurice was unsure of his fate and also unable to obtain a bank loan, so he declined to purchase shares of the famed producer.

Though he was released in February 1942, in June 1944, Maurice again found himself a target of German forces, who were prepared to re-arrest him, having now obtained sufficient evidence to support their initial suspicions. Maurice had anticipated the likely event, and as officers knocked on the door of his Beaune home, he escaped through a window and descended into the cellars, which ran from the Drouhin’s home to the Hospices de Beaune. It was buried beneath Beaune where Maurice would remain hidden by nuns from the Hospices until the city was liberated in September 1944.

After the war, Maurice returned to work fulltime for Maison Drouhin until he suffered stroke in 1955. Having remained in the Drouhin family for more than a century, the management of the domaine was transferred in 1957 to his son, Robert Drouhin, who grew the burgeoning company into a dynamic and expansive global business with vineyards located throughout the Côte d’Or, Chablis and Oregon. Today, Maison Joseph Drouhin is managed by the founder’s four grandchildren, Frédéric, Véronique, Philippe and Laurent, who, under the tutelage of their father, Robert, continue to uphold their family’s legacy and “passion for vine and wine”.