“We are expecting to do well in the Indian market”
Yes, this has been a family business ...
Bernard-Massard headquarters in Luxembourg
Carlo Clasen had to take tough decisions. Much of our vineyards were occupied by American forces that were fighting the Germans on the other side. Much of the winery was destroyed. So he decided to sell all of our vineyards in order to fund the reconstruction of the winery. Since we didn’t have vineyards we needed to source grapes from other places. We continued producing the wines between the late 1940s and through to the 1970s this way. By the early 1980s my father turned the company around a bit. He was able to buy back some of the vineyards that my grandfather had sold. Today, fortunately, we have more vineyards than what we had before the Second World War. It took us nearly 40 years to do so. Getting back the vineyards has been one of the high points in our family’s history.
Since you grow wine in the Schengen area, please tell us a bit more about it…
Schengen has very rich soils. It is a very nice area to grow wine. As I mentioned, we’re able to use the Schengen label till this day. When you see it, you can see the drawing of the castle—it was made by Victor Hugo, the famous French writer, who stayed there with the owners of the day. He was fleeing France and going via Schengen. In order to thank his hosts he drew them the castle. That is why we are able to use that label today. The original painting is in the museum in Luxembourg.
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