Michel Rolland died yesterday at age 79. Raised at his family’s Château Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol, he began a consulting business with his wife, Dany, in 1973, soon after they both graduated from the University of Bordeaux. The business was mainly local until Zelma Long, winemaker at Simi in California, engaged his services in 1985. Before long, he became an international sensation, redefining the term ‘flying winemaker’ with gigs on every continent save for Antarctica. (In this interview with Jancis, he jokes that he hopes to soon have a job on the moon.)
His extensive influence on the wine world is easily seen in how frequently his name comes up on our site (180 times!), in relation to his work in California (most recently Outpost and Cathiard Vineyard as well as Quintessa), Armenia, Croatia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy’s Bolgheri, India, Uruguay, as well as legions of Bordeaux estates and his second home and love, Argentina.
As his rise coincided with the Parker era, he was often criticised for encouraging a sameness in wines, based on low yields (there’s a debate as to whether he or Christian Moueix popularised crop-thinning) and long hang times in the pursuit of concentration and super-ripeness.
However, as he told Jancis, he thought of himself more like a doctor, recommending particular advice tailored to the place and variety. (He could be pithier about it, too: among the Rolland tenets Jancis listed in The world according to Rolland is ‘Stupidity: the opinion that we’re always looking for overripe grapes.’) And regardless the opinion on style, there is no doubt that he brought attention to wine regions around the world that others paid little attention to, and, with that, education and access. Around the world, his blending skills inspired awe.
He also had a good sense of humour; in October, Jancis described running into him in London at a tasting held by UK supermarket Waitrose: ‘Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Waitrose tasting was the sudden appearance at my side, to the surprise of the Waitrose team, too, of the most famous winemaking/blending consultant of all, Michel Rolland. When I asked him why on earth he was there he just said, “Well, I have a lot of wine to sell …”.
If you have other remembrances of him, please share them on our forum using the link below.
Photo by Bálint Pörneczi via The Rolland Collection.
