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MANA GEMENT TECHNICAL REVIEW Restoring a Historic Stone Winery Morlet owners employ innovative financing and new sorting technology By Paul Franson OR Luc Morlet, a native of the Champagne region of France, and his wife Jodie, an American, launched their own wine brand in 2006. The couple restored an 1880 stone building in St. Helena, Calif., to house their winery. combination of entrepreneurship, refinanc- ing their home, great winemaking and sheer hard work to acquire the rare prop- erty and build a winery without partners or investors. T The story starts in Champagne, France, where Luc Morlet's family has been growing grapes and making wine for five generations. After helping in the family business, Luc earned the equivalent of bachelor's degree in viticulture, a master's in enology and an MBA, then worked in Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux. In 1994, however, he met and fell in love with Jodie, an American. Seeking to join her in the United States, he successfully ap- plied for a job at Newton Vineyard, where he was hired with a work permit, then after five years joined Peter Michael Win- 40 Wines & Vines APRiL 2012 he way that Luc and Jodie Morlet financed their new win- ery is nearly as interesting as its contents and the structure itself. The well-respected French-born winemaker and his wife used a ery in Knights Valley, Calif., just north of Napa County, and made his name creating wines that gained increasing renown. By then, he and Jodie had married, and the last year he was at Peter Michael, they refinanced their home in order to buy 12 acres of Knights Valley land, half of which they later planted to Cabernet. The birth of Morlet Family Vineyards In 2006, the Morlets decided to start their own label. Peter Michael needed a full- time winemaker, so Luc transitioned into the role of consultant while his brother Nicolas took over as winemaker. The Morlets had no fruit of their own when they started, but Luc had good relationships with suppliers to Newton and Peter Michael. The Morlets took out a home equity loan to buy grapes, and the Morlet label was born. They started with Pinot Noir, Chardon- nay, Syrah and a white Bordeaux blend, then added Cabernet—some of it from Napa and some from their own property CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA Mendocino Santa Rosa Pacific Ocean San Francisco Morlet Family Vineyards St. Helena Napa NV in Knights Valley. They also produce a late-harvest Semillon, particularly for wine dinners, though they serve their fam- ily's Morlet Champagne as an aperitif. Luc and Jodie, then a schoolteacher, had two children, and Luc also made wine for wineries including Staglin, where he made his wine for one year, and at Chateau Boswell, where he made his wine for four years. Earnings from consulting for wineries such as Vineyard 7 & 8 helped finance ( r i g h t) ( l e f t)