Emile Peynaud
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Émile Peynaud (1912 – July 18, 2004) was a notable French oenologist who revolutionized Bordeaux winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century. As a lecturer at the University of Bordeaux, author of nearly three hundred research papers, and consultant to over one hundred wineries in Bordeaux and around the globe, he had a profound impact on the world of wine.
[edit] Biography
Born in Bordeaux in 1912, Peynaud entered the wine trade at the age of fifteen with the négociant Maison Calvet. At Calvet he worked under the chemical engineer Jean Ribéreau-Gayon, and they developed methods of analysing the wines that were to be purchased. After the Second World War, Peynaud completed his Doctorate at the University of Bordeaux and joined its faculty as a lecturer. Ribéreau-Gayon at this time was also teaching at the University, and the two shifted their previous focus of problems faced by Calvet to the problems faced by the winemakers themselves.
While at the University of Bordeaux, Peynaud worked at providing scientific explanations for many problems encountered in the process of winemaking. At the time, winemaking processes that we now take for granted were not in place, or were only vaguely understood. The result was that much of the wine produced was not of the best possible quality. Peynaud's research can be summarized as four important steps: the fruit arriving at the winery must be optimally ripe and in good condition; crushing and maceration must be used to properly extract tannins; temperature must be controlled; and malolactic fermentation must be encouraged.
Prior to Peynaud's consultancy with Bordeaux wineries, the fruit that arrived for crushing was often underripe. He convinced the vineyards to start their picking up to two weeks later than usual, and to complete the picking as quickly as possible. Additionally, the practice of picking underripe or rotten grapes was abandoned, so that the fruit arriving at the winery was of the best possible quality. The result was wine with more colour and flavour, and with riper and more approachable tannins.
Peynaud's second contribution was the control of tannin extraction. Tannin control begins with high quality ripe fruit, but the amount of tannin extracted is even more important. Peynaud introduced the idea of crushing and fermenting in separate batches based on vine age, vineyard location, or any other factor that resulted in fruit of differing qualities. Each batch then received the proper amount of pressing and maceration for its fruit quality.
Control of fermentation temperature was the third aspect of Peynaud's goal of improving wine quality. Stuck fermentation was a common winemaking problem, but it was Peynaud who realized that high must temperature was the cause. He also applied the cool fermentations used in Champagne to still white Bordeaux, enhancing freshness and flavour.
Peynaud considered the control of malolactic fermentation to be one of his most important contributions to winemaking. It was commonly believed that malolactic fermentation was a sickness to be avoided, but it was not realized that it would later occur in the bottle. With much convincing, Peynaud helped the wineries realize that they needed to encourage and control malolactic fermentation. The result was fuller, rounder wines that did not become fizzy due to bottle fermentation.
The above are four of Émile Peynaud's many contributions to winemaking. Although he is seen today as being instrumental in improving winemaking the world over, he was at one time criticized for the “Peynaudization” of wine. It was said that all his wines were too similar, that they had tannins that were balanced and not rough in youth, the acid levels were not extremely high, and they had deep colour and flavour extraction. Today we see these as aspects of quality, but at the time it was thought that he was robbing wines of their individuality. The reality is that although the wines were similar at barrel tastings, they were built to last and to evolve and improve with age. Peynaud insisted that he did not possess a recipe for creating wine, but he simply helped each winery to improve what they were already producing. This is in contrast with his pupil Michel Rolland who, along with Robert Parker, is accused of being a reason behind the global homogenization of wine.
He was the Decanter magazine's Man of the Year 1990.
[edit] See also
[edit] Selected bibliography
- Peynaud, Émile; J. Blouin [1971] (2005). Connaissance Et Travail Du Vin, 4th ed. (in French), Dunod. ISBN 2-10-049296-9.
- Peynaud, Émile (1984). Knowing and Making Wine, trans. Alan Spenser, Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0-471-11376-X.
- Peynaud, Émile; J. Blouin [1983] (1996). Le goût du vin (in French). Paris: Dunod. ISBN 2-10-002750-6.
- Peynaud, Émile; intro. by Michael Broadbent, M.W. (1996). The Taste of Wine: The Art and Science of Wine Appreciation, trans. Michael Schuster, London: Macdonald Orbis. ISBN 0-471-11376-X.
