French Family Vineyards Imperiled by Historic Inheritance Taxes

June 29, 2023, 7:00 AM UTC

As a little girl helping her parents and grandparents in the rolling vineyards of northeast France, Sophie Moussié declared that she would one day run the family business.

These days, three young boys tag along as Sophie works the same rich soil. And the legacy vines that cling to the hillsides belong to her.

Sophie Moussié tends to a vine at the family’s champagne vineyard in Louvois, France, on March 24.
Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

Moussié, 35, is newly head of the champagne house Guy Méa. Her maternal grandfather, for whom the winery is named, passed away last year and her parents decided to retire. So Sophie became the fifth generation to take ownership, to work the land, to make ...

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