In the land of big wine money, some families are still doing it for themselves
On my last two visits to Napa Valley, I’ve deliberately spent time with a family that represents the antithesis of that viticultural Eden’s glamorous image: the MacDonalds in 2023 and the Morisolis in 2024. Both prune the vines themselves. They drive the tractors. And, to balance the books, they sell most of their fruit to prestigious names and make wine from only a minority of their grapes.
The MacDonald family emigrated from Scotland after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1746. “Dad would wear a kilt at Christmas,” I was told. They are not at all keen on any association with McDonald’s burgers. That heartwarming visit was last year. The Morisoli family, who I visited this year, is not dissimilar — just a couple of miles up Highway 29 in Rutherford, also in prime viticultural land on the cooler west side, next to Francis Ford Coppola’s Victorian homestead.
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