years in the business they have revolutionised the region's wine industry.

Marc Chapoutier and his brother Michel took over the family business from their father in the mid-1980s, and already they have earned the respect of the leading wine makers in the France's Rhone Valley.

At just 29, Marc Chapoutier is chairman of the board of M. Chapoutier S.A. in Tain-L'Hermitage just south of Lyon. The company was founded in 1808 and has is now the largest operation in the region.

"My brother and I represent the sixth generation in the business,'' said Mr.

Chapoutier, who leaves Bermuda today after meetings and a wine tasting at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. on Front Street. "Each generation has bought up other operations in the region, and now we are the biggest in the region in terms of the number of operations, not acres.'' Mr. Chapoutier said that although he and his brother are the youngest to run the family business, and indeed the youngest wine makers in the region, they have proved that they can at least make wines that are as good if not sometimes better than their competition.

"I think that we are more open minded about the business than some of our colleagues,'' he said. "For us, our age has been our good point. Our generation of wine makers have been very strict about quality.'' Mr. Chapoutier, who is in charge of marketing the family wines, said also that when he and his brother were younger they spent much time travelling to other wine regions around the world.

"We spent a lot of time learning about the market before we got into the business,'' he said. "We have done our research.'' He said that his brother once told an interviewer that the best way to judge a good wine maker is to look in his private cellar. Mr. Chapoutier said that his private cellar is filled with wines from around the world, with only 10 percent of the total from the Rhone Valley.

The M. Chapoutier vineyards grow their grapes by a method called organic viticulture, without any chemicals in the soil. Mr. Chapoutier said he believes 80 percent of the job is in the growing, with 20 percent in the making of the wine, unlike when his father was in the business, when both had equal importance. They also use oak barrels to age the wine, rather than chestnut which allows too much oxygen in the wine.

"You can be a lazy wine maker and still have the best wine in the world,'' he said. "But if you are lazy in growing the wine, you will never be able to make a good wine.'' He said the success of his family's business has helped show that the methods they use in growing the grapes are some of the best.

THE TAST OF SUCCESS -- Mr. Mark Chapoutier, chairman of the board of M.

Chapoutier S.A. in the Rhone valley of France, was the guest of honour yesterday at a wine tasting at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. on Front Street.