For These Influential Families, Life is Like ‘Succession’—But With More Wine

livemint.com:

IN ITALY, THEY have a saying about family-run companies, shared by an Italian winemaker I know: “The first generation builds it, the second maintains it and the third destroys it." I’m happy to report that under the stewardship of this winemaker and his sister—the second generation to run their winery—his family business is flourishing. How do some families fit the personal with the professional to create successful intergenerational businesses, while others do not? I talked with three prominent California wine families who seem to have figured it out. Ramey Wine Cellars, Healdsburg It was never a given that David Ramey’s children, Claire and Alan, would take over the family winery.

“You can’t force it. It had to be natural," said the elder Ramey, who has been making notable wine in California for 45 years, for other wineries as well as his own. Founded by Ramey and his wife, Carla, in 1996, Ramey Wine Cellars produces a range of high-scoring wines, notably single-vineyard Chardonnays.

David Ramey said, “We had a defining moment in March 2020 when a French company wanted to buy the winery." While both Claire, now 32, and Alan, 31, were already committed to the winery, by collectively choosing to turn down the offer, they reaffirmed that commitment to their parents. Both siblings hold the title co-president; each focuses on different aspects of the business, though all decisions are made jointly and their duties often overlap. Both Ramey children and their father taste all the wines together with Cameron Frey, vice president of winemaking, and Lydia Cummins, associate winemaker, and make final blending choices.