Wine Industry Report

Effective November 1, 2006, Jean-Charles Cazes assumes overall responsibility for management of the renowned Cazes family estates and winemaking operations, extending from Bordeaux to southern France and including joint ventures in Portugal and Australia. The announcement was made by Cazes family patriarch (and Jean-Charles’ father) Jean-Michel Cazes, a legendary figure in international winemaking circles, following a recent board meeting held by the family-owned concern at its headquarters in Bordeaux.

In a statement welcoming the development, Jean-Michel wrote : “We have the fortune to get on well and I will continue to play a modest role in the business, for it would be difficult to completely give up a trade which has meant so much to me. I believe, however, that the challenges facing our business must be handed over to someone who, God willing, has time ahead of him to address the job.”

Jean-Charles Cazes, 32, represents the latest generation to take on leadership of one of the world’s most successful and high-profile winemaking dynasties. Henceforth, his responsibilities entail oversight of a diverse collection of top-flight estates and leading-name brands, including the Bordeaux chateaux of Lynch-Bages, Ormes de Pez and Villa Bel-Air. the Michel Lynch brand of Bordeaux varietals; L’Ostal Cazes and the Circus line of wines from the Languedoc; a distribution company, JM Cazes-Selection; Xisto, a joint venture with the Roquette family in Portugal’s Douro Valley; and Tapanappa, a joint venture in South Australia undertaken with the Bollinger family of Champagne fame and pioneering Australian winemaker, Brian Croser.

Having spent his entire life amid the milieu of the family wine businesses, working alongside his father for as long as he can recall, Jean-Charles is a bona fide industry veteran. He follows in the footsteps of his father who, after 33 years in charge of the Cazes family interests, a position he himself assumed from his father, and Jean-Charles’ grandfather, Andre Cazes, is eager to take on a less onerous role. Jean-Michel Cazes, together with his sister, Sylvie Cazes-Régimbeau, will nonetheless remain in their respective roles as chairman and president of the family holding company.

“As you may well imagine, I am very proud to take over at Lynch-Bages and our other family estates. I realize that I have large shoes to fill and fully measure the challenge ahead. My father has always been a great model and will continue to be a major inspiration… my motivation is driven by two major positive forces: a passion for wine and for the people in this industry.”