Keeping the brand in the family

The WSJ published a full-page feature today on the Antinori wine company, an Italian family business that has been chugging along for 600+ years, now moving into its 27th generation of family managers (the three daughters of the current patriarch).

The piece asks how the Antinoris managed to keep their business growing and in family hands for so long, when most family businesses stumble after a few generations.

Here’s what I gleaned from the article:

• Having a strong vision and values (” We just all grew up with the same values. And somehow, we all know when it’s time to make a decision together.”)
• Related to this vision, having a grounded outlook (”We have the link with the land, the traditions, so we’ve got our feet on the ground.”)
• Forsaking of business and management fads (”There is no biz-school-inspired strategy for this”).
• A business which by nature requires long-term vs. short-term thinking (”you put a vine in the ground and the first cash flow you see is a decade later”).

Plum gig for wine enthusiast

It may at times seem like we’re regressing here at IBC but, in fact, we’re taking big, bold steps forward. So stick around… Next week we’re going to turn up the dial on the Q&As and this will hopefully set the tone for things to come.

Anyway, we caught up with The Intrepid Wine Company this morning, and they’re looking for a young sales & marketing dynamo to open the top 50 restaurants, bars and specialty wine shops in New York. This is a plum job for someone… any takers?