It's a story straight out of a Hollywood film. A young prince leaves home to find himself, studies in the U.S., meets a girl, falls in love and becomes a screenwriter for the movies. But his family needs him back in Europe. So he returns to find fulfillment in the vineyards.
It sounds cinematic, but Prince Robert de Luxembourg's life has not been a fairy tale. He lost his father when he was eight years old and spent his formative years in boarding school. He had no plans to work in wine. But since he took over the family company, Domaine Clarence Dillon, he has improved one of Bordeaux's most legendary estates, Château Haut-Brion, added a Right Bank estate and introduced new, affordable but high-quality wines. He has also given back to his community and to medical research charities.
For his shining example in wine, and for his selfless charitable endeavors, Prince Robert de Luxembourg is Wine Spectator's 2024 Distinguished Service Award winner. He is accepting the award today at the 43rd annual Wine Experience in New York, where he will also be sharing his Château La Mission Haut-Brion 2000 with the audience
Prince Robert's great grandfather Clarence Dillon, a self-made American millionaire in banking, bought Château Haut-Brion in 1935. Bordeaux was reeling after World War I and the Great Depression, and wineries were selling for a discount. While Haut-Brion was never Dillon's primary focus, he stressed that wine quality was the priority. After his death, it would be managed by his son, U.S. Ambassador C. Douglas Dillon, and then his granddaughter, Joan Dillon.
When Joan asked her son to help manage the estate in 1993, it became clear to Robert that Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, which his mother had purchased a decade earlier, needed more attention.
"When it was only Haut-Brion, it was an agricultural enterprise, a farm—not a growing business," he told Wine Spectator in 2021. "I felt that in order for us to stay involved as a family, as shareholders of this company, we needed to manage the company properly as entrepreneurs, to grow and expand it. It could no longer be someone’s folly, as it was under Clarence Dillon."
To that end, Robert invested in Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. He also expanded. In 2005, Robert launched Clarendelle (named for Clarence), a line of branded Bordeaux wines “inspired by Haut-Brion,” as he puts it, but priced around $20. Clarence Dillon Wines, a sales and distribution business, was created in 2005 to market Clarendelle along with other Bordeaux wines. The company was united under the new name Domaine Clarence Dillon (DCD).
In 2011, DCD acquired Château Tertre Daugay, an estate in St.-Emilion, a Grand Cru Classé in the official classification. Two years later, Robert was able to acquire neighboring estate Château L’Arrossee, also a Grand Cru Classé. In an unusual and controversial move, he combined the two properties. He gave the much larger estate a new name, Château Quintus. Very quickly, it has become one of the Right Bank's top estates.
Even as he has expanded the family’s wine and hospitality business, Robert has taken on new ventures in philanthropy. Two efforts particularly stand out. In 2009, Robert was a founder of the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. This cultural center celebrating the international history and art of wine opened in 2016. Last year, it drew more than 400,000 visitors.
In 2016, Robert and his wife Julie were devastated when their son Frederik was diagnosed with a rare PolG-related mitochondrial disease. “It turned life upside down,” Robert says.
Frederik is meeting significant and ongoing medical challenges. With his help, Robert and Julie have created the PolG Foundation, with the mission to foster research to discover a cure for mitochondrial PolG-related disorders. This research will impact millions of patients suffering from mitochondrial-related diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism and some forms of cancer, to name a few. Last year, the Foundation awarded $3.5 million in grants in support of these goals.
"I am deeply touched and honored to receive this distinguished award from Marvin Shanken and his exceptional teams at Wine Spectator. Representing the 4th generation at the helm of our family wine business, it is particularly moving to be the second generation of my family to receive this honor, given that my mother was awarded this distinction here in New York almost exactly 20 years ago."
