Caroline Parent Chambolle-Musigny 2008 (12 x 750mL), Burgundy, France.

The Parent family of Burgundy has generations of history to boast about. One might begin withEtienne Parent, who served as Thomas Jefferson’s personal guide during the future President’s visit tothe region and later assisted the Burgundy-loving American in stocking his Monticello cellar plus consultinghim on viticulture in America. Many consider Étienne to be one of Burgundy’s first winemakers to beginexporting, starting something very new for this at that time insular region.Today’s younger Parent generation includes, among others, the lovely 30-something Caroline Parent(her mother is Anne Francoise of A.F. Gros, and her father François Parent), who seems to be followingher forefather’s example – blending tradition with modern methods.

At 34 years old, Caroline is balancingmotherhood (she has an 18-month-old andan 8-year-old) with winery management andmarketing. She often travels to Russia andAsia representing her family in emergingmarkets. The challenges are interesting, and Caroline is young and nimble enough to adapt to the globalreach of her family’s wines.With great reverence she talks about an aunt, Anne Parent: “She has done so much for winemakingin Burgundy. My aunt started the Women of Burgundy organization and has made her wines knownglobally through her efforts.”Caroline, with her warm smile and easy manner, looks to be following in her aunt’s impressive footsteps,beginning by bottling her own wine. “I am not the winemaker on this at all,” she protests. “Thefruit comes from A.F. Gros, François Parent and Domaine Parent vineyards, but I taste from the samplesand make the decisions as to what I want to include in the blend, so in that sense it really is my wine.”