In class, we’ve spoken a lot about the
role of the critic and the role of the consultant. In light of this, I wanted to
learn more about the most famous consultant of all; Michel Rolland.
Education and early work
Michel Rolland was born in 1947 to a
winemaking family. With the encouragement of his father he attended the Tour Blanche Viticultural and Oenology
school in Bordeaux. He has said that his only intention at the time was
to work on his family’s estate. It was his father who pushed him with his
studies and to explore options on a larger scale.
In 1973
he purchased an oenology lab on the right bank of Bordeaux. Today the lab
employs 8 technicians and analyses samples from 800 French wine estates
annually. Rolland’s first clients included the Bordeaux Châteaux Troplong Mondot, Angélus, and Beau-Séjour
Bécot. In the mid-1980s he branched outside of Bordeaux for the first time when
he started consulting for Sonoma’s Simi Winery. Today Rolland works with over
250 leading wine producers in virtually every major winemaking region in the
world.
Why he’s so successful
Rolland claims to not
have any beliefs that significantly set him apart from other wine consultants.
“I’m not sure I
have anything particularly different that sets me apart, besides understanding
that wine consulting is 70 percent psychology, 30 percent oenology”.
He does say that his biggest contribution on the industry
has been his emphasis on ‘ripeness’.
“Grapes have to be ripe before good wine can be made. That, for
me, was my most significant realization, and what I have worked hardest to
convince my clients of. After you have ripe grapes, the technical issues of
sorting, temperature control and others can be addressed. But without ripe
grapes, you are nowhere.”
Others
note his blending expertise
“Rolland's blending skill is
phenomenal. I have sat in on blending sessions of his in California, France and
Italy over the past three years, and he has an amazing palate. It's not so much
that he is better than other top tasters at evaluating the quality of a wine,
or that he knows more tricks as a veteran winemaker. Where he shines is in his
ability to taste different lots of wine in a winery and then decide which ones
work best together to make a great bottle.”
Criticism.
As we have spoken
about in class, Rolland is not without his critics. Many complain that he (Robert Parker and others) are responsible for the homogeneity of premium wines,
where wines can share very similar taste characteristics, regardless of their
disparate origins.
Personal taste
In his private life,
Rolland says that he can drink any well-known or un-well-known wine, although
he confesses that over 80% of the wine in his personal cellar is from Bordeaux. He says that he doesn't always drink wine. Sometimes, he drinks water.
Thanks for the post, Ashley. Very interesting to hear that a lot of his blending expertise is simply by taste and not through oenology or other scientific means.
ReplyDeleteI remember a line from one of our readings that was something like "Rolland has seemingly mastered the recipe for pleasing Robert Parker". Was this ever a stated goal of his, do they just happen to have similar taste preferences, or did he simply realize it was the best way to win business from wine producers?