10 Great Wine Families

It all comes down to succession: how a family can hold together over the course of generations, continuing to build on the success of their vines and their ancestors. Wine is one of the rare businesses in which this level of international fame and internal family politics plays out over centuries—unless you consider royalty a business. So, it makes for an unusual sociological study and compelling prose. – Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits. Getting right to the beating heart of Europe’s foremost winemaking families, this supremely readable book outlines the trials, tribulations and successes of 10 of the best: Frescobaldi, Gaja, Torres, Perrin, Knoll, Thienpont, Niepoort, Palacios, Müller and Liger-Belair. Fiona Morrison, awarded the coveted Master of Wine in 1994, is a talented writer and winemaker who works closely with her husband, Jacques Thienpont, helping to make the wine and manage their three Bordeaux estates – Le Pin (Pomerol, home to one of the world’s most prestigious red wines), L’IF (Saint-Emilion) and Château L’Hêtre (Côtes de Castillon). Fiona has over 30 years experience in the fine wine trade on both sides of the Atlantic.