We Are Still A Family-Owned Winery

Every few weeks somebody asks me whether we’re still a family winery. I understand why people ask. The industry has changed enormously and a lot of good names have gone away. So I want to say this plainly: we are family-owned, we have always been family-owned, and we will be family-owned for as long as I am standing here.

My father planted the first block in 1971 with a rented tractor. My mother did our books at the kitchen table until 1994. My sister runs hospitality. My son farms the estate.

We did bring in a partner in 2019. That was a hard decision and I made it at that same kitchen table. But a partner is not a sale. Meridian Cellar Group has been extraordinary to work with, and in seven years they have never once told me what to plant.

They increased their position in 2022, and again last spring, and yes, they now hold 88 percent. I want to be careful with the language here, because “hold” sounds cold and it isn’t. Ted from Meridian was at my daughter’s wedding. He drove up.

Meridian is itself owned by a holding company in Luxembourg, which I will admit I couldn’t tell you a great deal about, and that company is majority-owned by a Dutch public-sector pension fund representing 1.4 million retired transit and municipal workers. I’ve come around to thinking of those 1.4 million people as family too. They worked their whole lives. Many of them drove buses. They are counting on us the same way my father counted on that rented tractor.

So when the question comes up, I don’t hedge. Yes, there is a board now. Yes, I report to it. Yes, my title changed in March. Yes, vineyard decisions run through an agronomy committee in Rotterdam that meets Thursdays.

But my name is still on the bottle, and nobody can take that.

They have asked me about the name, actually. There’s a brand study.

I’ve been told there’s no decision yet.