© AFP/Faller Family

Laurence Faller with her eponymous wine. Her funeral will be held on May 20 in Kayserberg

Laurence Faller dies aged 47.

France's wine world was in mourning Thursday following news of the sudden death of Laurence Faller, the female winemaker at the acclaimed Domaine Weinbach in Alsace.

Faller, a 47-year-old mother of two, died from a heart attack earlier this week, Thierry Fritsch of the Alsace wine board announced.

"She was one of the great figures in French winemaking," Fritsch said. "She had an extraordinary precision in her technical decisions in the winemaking process.

"She made wines that were elegant and pure, with the clarity of crystal and appreciated all over the world," he added.

Laurence Faller was part of an all-female winemaking team at the estate, along with her mother Colette and sister Catherine.

Run on organic and biodynamic principles, Domaine Weinbach was first established by Capuchin monks and included parcels of land in what are considered the finest zones of Alsace.

Earlier this week, the Californian industry also lost one of its pioneers. Bob Sessions, 82, died after a long battle with Alzheimer's. From 1973 until 2001, Sessions was the winemaker at Sonoma estate Hanzell Vineyards.

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