Michel Rolland

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Michel Rolland (born December 24, 1947 in Libourne, France) is an influential Bordeaux-based oenologist, with hundreds of clients across 13 countries and influencing wine style around the world. "It is his consultancies outside France that have set him apart from all but a handful of his countrymen." His signature style, which he helps wineries achieve, is fruit-heavy and oak-influenced, a preference shared by influential critic Robert Parker. He features prominently in Jonathan Nossiter's critical film Mondovino as an agent of wine globalization.

Rolland owns several properties in Bordeaux, including Château Le Bon Pasteur, Château Bertineau Saint-Vincent in Lalande de Pomerol, Château Rolland-Maillet in Saint-Émilion, Château Fontenil in Fronsac, and Château La Grande Clotte in Lussac Saint-Émilion as well as joint venture partnerships with Bonne Nouvelle in South Africa, Val de Flores in Argentina, Campo Eliseo in Spain and Yacochuya and Clos de los Siete in Argentina.

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[edit] Education and early career

Born into a wine making family, Rolland grew up on the family's estate Château Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol.[1] With his father's encouragement, after High School Rolland enrolled at Tour Blanche Viticultural and Oenology school in Bordeaux. Excelling in his studies, he was one of 5 student chosen by director Jean-Pierre Navarre to evaluate the program's quality against that of the prestigious Bordeaux Oenology Institute. Rolland later enrolled in the Institute where he met his wife, fellow oenologist Dany Rolland, and graduated as part of the class of 1972.

At the Institute, Michel Rolland studied under the tutelage of renowned oenologists Pierre Sudraud, Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon, Jean Ribéreau-Gayon, and Émile Peynaud. Rolland has said these men were a great influence upon him and considers them the "Fathers of Modern Oenology."

In 1973, Rolland and his wife bought into an oenology lab on the Right Bank of Bordeaux in the town of Libourne. They took over full control of the lab in 1976 and expanded it to include tasting rooms. By 2006 the Rolland's lab employed 8 full time technicians, analyzing samples from nearly 800 wine estates in France each year.[2] Rolland's two daughters, Stéphanie & Marie, also work at the lab.

Michel Rolland's first clients included the Bordeaux Châteaux Troplong Mondot, Angélus, and Beau-Séjour Bécot. An early set back was the loss of two Saint-Émilion first growths, Château Canon and Château La Gaffelière, due to conflict in style with the owners and Rolland. According the Rolland, the loss "calmed him down" and brought him out of an awkward stage in his early career. Twenty years later, the two chateaux returned to be part of the more than 100 wineries who employ Michel Rolland as their consultant.

[edit] Influence on wine

In his book on the Bordeaux wine revolution, William Echikson says that before Michel Rolland became consultant to Château Lascombes, it "produced about 500,000 bottles of mediocre wine, about half of which was sold not as Lascombes itself, but as the inferior Chevalier de Lascombes." However, Echikson contends that today even the Chevalier (the second wine of the château) is better than the old full-fledged Lascombes.

[edit] Microoxygenation

There is some controversy about whether Michel Rolland is a proponent of the use of microoxygenation in wine. In the film Mondovino, Rolland is seen on several occasions advising his clients to microoxygenate their wines, including a scene at Château Le Gay in Bordeaux. Since the film, Rolland has said that he is "not a fan of micro-oxygenation. The film suggests I am. Some of my clients inquire about it. It can help in special conditions — if the tannins are fierce or hard, micro-oxygenation can make them softer and rounder. In certain countries with certain terroir, like Chile or Argentina, I may use it." Wine Spectator's James Suckling notes in an article about Rolland that "He is not a proponent of micro-oxidation in wine-making as some suggest, and never has been".[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

  • Echikson, William. Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution. NY: W.W.Norton, 2004.
  • Robinson, Jancis (Editor) The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1999
Footnotes
  1. ^ Asimov, Eric, New York Times (October 11, 2006). Satan or Savior: Setting the Grape Standard.
  2. ^ a b Suckling, James, Wine Spectator "Top Gun", June 30, 2006
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