While my plan was certainly ambitious and somewhat risky—at that time Chilean wines were just becoming well known
in the competitive global market—it was, in many ways, just an extension of the
wine business my family has been involved in for hundreds of years. In addition
to Grand Marnier, the House of Marnier Lapostolle owns and operates Chateau de
Sancerre in the Loire. We also had a 60-year relationship with our distributors
in Chile, a wonderful family that made me feel welcome and educated me on the
country’s different regions, climates and people. Twelve years, a multimillion
dollar investment and a lot of hard work later, Casa Lapostolle now produces
more than 150,000 cases of premium red and white wines annually and maintains
three distinct vineyards across almost 1,000 acres.In the spirits and wine industries, globalization is very
profoundly impacting the way we work. Unlike my great-grandfather, whose
business life was basically confined to France, I operate globally, but in a
world that is much smaller. From my home in Geneva, I can reach Chile in 16
hours, a trip I make many times each year. I also travel regularly to England,
Canada and New York, where we have an office. I meet with importers and work to
develop new markets. When I go to the United States, Canada or Asia, I have to
listen and learn about the culture to which we are trying to sell our wines. As
a global producer of premium wines, my greatest challenge today is to maintain
our own personality as we try to market to different regions with different
tastes. Even though I would love to have more sales, I will not change the taste
of my wines to meet the varying expectations of each global market. My job—which
is sometimes difficult—is to help these audiences appreciate and share my taste
for the French-Chilean style of wine we produce. In my family, this challenge is not new. I think back to my
great-grandfather, who drew upon generations of experience and his own personal
taste to develop Grand Marnier, a liqueur that was, and is, wholly unique. No
doubt, he too encountered skeptics along the way, but by taking a risk and
remaining true to his vision, he succeeded. My ancestors created the House of Marnier Lapostolle, and I am
grateful and proud of their accomplishments. Although the current generation of
my family holds fast to established traditions, who knows what the future will
hold? I hope we will continue to own and operate this business, and that my own
sons will someday join us as well. My husband and I talk to them about the
business and share our experiences with them. We feel it is better that they
reach a certain managerial level by themselves so that people will not question
their abilities. Therefore, we would like for each of them to work for 10 years
in other companies, and then come to work with us. I hope that when they do, we will all, as a family, still be taking risks and
exploring new business frontiers. I hope we will all be doing things that would
make past generations of our family proud.
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