Master Winemaker 100: Luc Morlet

The winemaker and co-founder of California’s Morlet Family Vineyards features in this year’s Master Winemaker 100 guide. He tells db about staying humble, the challenges of bureaucracy and why picking the right font matters.

Wine has always been a way of life for Luc Morlet. Born in Épernay, Champagne, to a fifth-generation winegrower family, he took a degree in Viticulture, a Masters in Oenology and then a Wine Business MBA. His professional experience began with internships at Maison Chanson Père & Fils in Beaune, before a stint as régisseur for the Lurton family’s Château Dauzac, working with legendary consultant Jacques Boissenot. Morlet then relocated to Napa to join his Californian sweetheart Jodie. In 2006, they founded Morlet Family Vineyards, based north of St Helena.

Here they work with vineyards across Napa and Sonoma Coast on a mission to create a harmonious blend of farming, science and art.

A wise person once told me: we are only here for a short period of time. Therefore we need to be great stewards of our land, and we must also not neglect cultivating our spiritual life.

A great wine should be harmonious, complex and memorable, and should also gladden one’s heart.

A great winemaker should remain humble while working to craft wines that deliver outstanding character, using natural processes that protect the health of consumers.

Perfection is loving what you do and the people around you.

The thing I’d most like to change about the wine world is… Locally, I would say absolutely no more wildfires in Napa or Sonoma Counties. Nationally, I would desire that all states allow the shipment of wine without restrictions, other than that the individual must be of legal drinking age. Globally, and simply put, I would change the bureaucracy and how policies are made without a proper understanding of long-term cycles in nature and variations from one vintage to another.

I wish I could tell the consumer who drinks my wine that a great deal of love is behind every single bottle, which also represents our family’s livelihood.

The last time I asked a sommelier for advice was when Jodie and I were first designing our label in 2006. We asked a few sommeliers for their opinions. Each time, they read “Merlot” instead of “Morlet”. We then knew that we had to change our font! We selected a French antique block font from Burgundy for “Morlet” and maintained script for “Family Vineyards”.

If I couldn’t be a winemaker, I would be chef-owner of a gastronomic restaurant with its own vegetable garden.

I wish our vineyards were paid off!

My next ambition is to have a succession plan for our children.

If I won the lottery… I don’t play the lottery, but if I did and won, I would pay off all our debts, donate to charities and support our local church.

If there were more hours in the day, I would spend more time with my lovely wife and with our incredible children.

My desert island wine would be the first vintage of our Passionnément Cabernet Sauvignon, which I named in Jodie’s honour, because if I were stranded alone, I would want to be thinking of my amazing wife.

Luc Morlet’s Master medals

Morlet Coeur de Vallée 2022, The Bordeaux Masters 2025