Winemaker, oenologist, and director of Château La Verrerie in Puget-sur-Durance: “The terroir is a triptych, with the human at the centre, the climate and the soil on either side”.
For the seventh in Le Figaro Vin’s series of interviews, we travel to the heart of the Luberon, in Provence, where Valentine Tardieu-Vitali, #44, has set herself the task of taking Château La Verrerie’s already impressive wines to an even higher level.
Le Figaro Vin: How does it feel to be crowned a winemaking champion?
Valentine Tardieu-Vitali: Taking on the challenge is energising in itself. Plus, it’s a feather in my cap. But you can never switch off if you want to stay at the top level. You have to stick to a rigorous regime.
Have you been training for long?
For a good ten years.
Wow! And always training with the same intensity?
Always the same intensity and no easing off.
How long do you train for on a daily basis?
For ten hours at least.
Every day, seven days out of seven?
No no, not seven out of seven, you must take the occasional break. I need to step back from time to time to get some perspective.
Five days out of seven then?
More like six days out of seven. Almost always.
And when you are competing – during the harvest?
Then I am busy day and night, seven days out of seven. It’s even more intense then. I become completely single-minded, exclusively focused on the quality of the harvest. Nothing else matters, nothing can distract me.
So you cut yourself off completely? Your sole focus is the competition?
Yes, it’s my only option. I have to win.
Who is your mentor?
I have a viticultural adviser and a vinicultural adviser, which makes two. And then I seek to talk things through with other leaders in the field, so we can share our knowledge, experience, and perspective.
Who are the other winemaking champions that you converse with the most?
First of all there’s my husband, Bastien Tardieu. I have other friends in wine who work at a very high level, particularly from Châteauneuf-du Pape. I also consult with Sylvain Morey, a colleague from our appellation.
Is wine a team sport?
Without any question. On your own, without a team, you are nothing. It’s through the choreography of each separate movement, repeated to the point of perfection, that you are able, step by step, to reach the heights. That’s the job I take on as team captain. I have to identify my players’ individual skills then put them in the positions where, with the right support, they can achieve their full potential.
What is the key to making a good wine? The terroir or the team captain?
The terroir is a triptych, with the human at the centre, the climate and the soil on either side.
To whom or to what do you owe your success?
I think it has a little bit to do with luck. As for whom? I would have to say Christopher Descours, because he trusted me to run La Verrerie estate, even though I was young and a woman! And then, underpinning everything, I have had to work for it.
When did you first fall in love with this sport?
When I was 16. I lived in Libourne, close to Saint-Émilion, where I went to see what this sport was all about. It was love at first sight and I’ve never looked back.
Do you ever dream of playing for Saint-Émilion?
No, I am happy where I am. I really love the Luberon appellation, which is still relatively undiscovered, and a natural environment. The approach to nature in the Luberon is markedly different from that in Saint-Émilion.
Are your parents proud of you?
I hope so, but that’s not what motivates me.
Who is your biggest supporter?
Christopher Descours.
Your favourite colour?
Red, because it is much trickier to master.
Your favourite wine?
Le Grand Deffand, because you have to give it everything you’ve got. It competes at an elite level, has an exceptional blend, and achieves outstanding results.
Have you won a lot of trophies with Le Grand Deffand?
I couldn’t care less about trophies. Nevertheless, it is beginning to win some. More importantly, it’s beginning to make its name. That’s why I really love this wine. On top of that, it’s quite unique.
How would you describe it in three words?
I would say it has elegance, subtlety, and soul. It has a soul precisely because so many people have contributed to its success, and that shows.
Your favourite vintage?
2006.
Why?
Because the wine is extremely subtle. It’s like velvet on the tongue and it ages really well. And, by no means least, because this vintage didn’t enjoy the greatest of critical receptions, which now gives it the element of surprise.
How do you see the rest of the 2023 season panning out?
I think we are well prepared even if, as things stand, we are always worried about drought. But we are constantly finding better and better ways to cope with the hazards of climate change.
Do you agree that the quality of your league increases with every season?
Yes, but then I also become more and more demanding. We have to be even better prepared and control every part of our performance. So yes, inevitably, we have to up our training even further, and perhaps I have to be more selective when it comes to picking my team.
Is the transfer market faring well?
It’s complicated. My teams are actually pretty well settled, but I would still like to build a bit more for the future and try to integrate more young players.
Do you have a mascot?
Of course, we have Marguerite. She is an eight-year-old Cairn Terrier and the mascot for La Verrerie. She supports us every day and she is always there, at every stage.
Head of Domaine Marquis d’Angerville, which has been in his family for 220 years: “A musician once said to me…d’Angerville wines are Bach”.
For the sixth interview in Le Figaro Vin’s series we make our first visit to Burgundy where Guillaume d’Angerville, #45, creates some of the region’s most elegant wines.
Le Figaro Vin: How does it feel to be crowned a winemaking champion?
Guillaume d’Angerville: I don’t feel anything because I don’t see it that way. From my perspective, it’s my terroir that is the winemaking champion, not me. I am very fortunate to work with these terroirs and my job is to do my best to help them achieve their full potential.
Have you been training for long?
My background is rather unusual. My father strongly encouraged me to do something else with my life before taking on the estate and I followed his advice. I was a banker for many years. I still spent a lot of time on the estate, of course, and I rarely missed a harvest. My real training only started 20 years ago. 2022 was my 20th harvest.
Who is your mentor?
I have a number of mentors. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Aubert de Villaine (of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, ed.) over a period of almost 10 years, when we jointly ran the team applying for World Heritage site status from Unesco. We worked together closely and, without being aware of it, I learnt a great deal from him during that time – even though we never talked directly about our estates or how to make wine. We remain sufficiently close for me to call him from time to time when I have a question, or feel uncertain, or want to get a different perspective on things. I should also mention two other mentors, Dominique Lafon and Jean-Marc Roulot, who, by a strange coincidence, are both from Meursault. They were enormously helpful when I took over the estate. They are not so much mentors as interlocutors with whom I can have the kind of completely honest conversations that help me progress.
Is wine a team sport?
Yes of course, you might even say that our wines would be every bit as good if I wasn’t there. I am just a team leader. I try to instil a desire for excellence in my team, but it’s the team that does the work. Good wine starts in the vineyard, and our vines are tended by a team of winegrowers who are passionate about their craft. Everything else flows from that: the harvest, the vinification, the élevage. My role is to supervise, to make sure we attend to every last detail in order to achieve the best possible results.
What is the key to making a good wine? The terroir or the winemaker?
Without a doubt, the terroir matters more than the winemaker. But without the winemaker the terroir cannot fully express itself. It’s a reciprocal relationship. A journalist once said to me, “Guillaume, your wines are not made they are born”. That made me realise that I am a bit like a midwife whose role is to help with my wines’ birth and ensure that they are born healthy, even that they are well brought up. When you have children, you appreciate that you have some influence, but you know that it’s limited. A child’s personality has to develop independently. You have to be there for your terroir, but also careful not to get in the way.
To whom or to what do you owe your success?
Above all, I owe my success to our very distant ancestors, to those Cistercian monks of Burgundy who understood the region and designed the template for Burgundian viticulture. We cannot overstate the fact that the Burgundy of today owes everything to those people who worked the land with quite extraordinary self-sacrifice and persistence. At a more personal level, I am indebted to my grandfather and my father, who have both played an exceptional part in our estate’s success. My grandfather was a major contributor to the fight against fraud in Burgundy, and to the move to estate-bottling. For 52 years my father was a servant to Burgundy wines. He left the estate in perfect condition with an impeccable reputation. When I came on the scene the level was so high that I had a long way to fall but, in all honesty, I couldn’t fail. I think I have moved the estate forward, through a combination of hard work, humility, and a passionate desire, shared with my team, to make the best possible wines. You have to have good people around you and that is one of my strengths: picking genuine talent and knowing how to delegate.
Was your father proud of you?
He never said so to me. Some kind souls have told me that he was, and I am soft enough to believe them.
Who is your biggest supporter?
I hope that my wife is. You could also say it’s a bottle of Clos des Ducs. My reputation, at some level, is indistinguishable from that of Clos des Ducs.
Your favourite colour?
Red.
The king of grape varieties?
You already know the answer, Pinot Noir.
Your favourite wine?
Clos des Ducs, inevitably.
Your favourite vintage?
I would pick out 1964 as the best vintage in living memory in Volnay. Were I to choose from the wines I have made myself, then it would be a very close call between 2010 and 2020, with 2020 just ahead, though it is still much too early to say. The jury is still out.
If your wine was a person, who would it be?
It is frequently said that a wine is like its maker. I like wines that are very elegant, very precise, very distinct, and very pure. A musician once said to me that Lafarge wines are Mozart and d’Angerville wines are Bach. That is high praise indeed. I wouldn’t dare say it myself, but I am delighted to hear it said.
What are the best circumstances in which to taste your wine?
With serenity, in a relatively small group, and ideally in my cellar.
With whom?
With friends, of course. The main thing is to taste with people who love wine, who do not overinterpret, who simply want to enjoy the wine and decide whether or not they like it. And I find, increasingly, that I prefer plain language, free from superfluous description, and a relaxed tasting, free from endless comparisons of one wine to another.
Have you ever thought about chemically enhancing yourself, or your wine?
Personally never, still less for my wine. It is a topic that crops up regularly these days, in conversations about global warming and its potential impact on Burgundy and on wine. I always say – somewhat guiltily – that global warming has some upsides for us, in particular that we now get to harvest fully ripened grapes which don’t need adulterating with sugar. Since I took over the reins, 20 years ago, I have never chaptalized my wines. The question came up in 2021 because the grapes had a much lower sugar content than usual. I chose not to add sugar and the alcohol level of my Volnay Premiers Crus is going to be in the region of 12.5% – the lowest in the last 20 years. The minute that we start to tamper with the grape juice that is destined to be wine, we upset a natural balance that we can never then recreate. It is better to stick with the natural balance.
For what price would you be prepared to sell your estate?
I cannot answer that question. You have to appreciate that the estate has been in my family for 220 years. I am the sixth generation. Since selling is not in the frame, you could say the estate is priceless.
Who is your strongest competition in Burgundy?
I can’t think of any. What is deeply intriguing about this region is that we are not competitors in the usual sense. Each winemaker has his unique terrain, makes distinctive wines, and has his own following. Every winemaker in Burgundy could sell his crop several times over. By the same token, in Volnay there are some very good winemakers and we are all friends. My real adversaries are the people who make my job much more difficult, all the bureaucrats who tie our hands with endless red tape. In all honesty, it’s bureaucracy that is the enemy.
What are you most proud of?
Do you know the quote from Winston Churchill? “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”
What has been your most innovative strategy in the vineyard and in the cellar?
In the vineyard, I don’t know if I can claim that being biodynamic is an innovation, but it is the development that has truly changed my viticulture and my wine, and which now underpins the estate. As for the cellar, I cannot claim to have made any hugely innovative changes. I have often been asked: “What has your former profession as a banker brought to the table?” In banking every detail counts, and when you have to follow a process you approach it systematically, one step at a time, looking for incremental improvements. I have tried to replicate that approach in both the winery and the cellar, aiming for marginal gains: this year for example, we have invested in a state-of-the-art wine pump. We are talking minor details in themselves but, when you add them all up, they make all the difference.
Who would be your ideal successor on the podium?
We have a huge number of talented young winegrowers which makes me extremely optimistic for Burgundy’s future. Many of them have travelled elsewhere, tried out other ways of working, and have then come back full of promising ideas. Plenty of names spring to mind – and not necessarily only those who sell their wines at €1,400 a bottle. As for my successor at the domaine, that question is already percolating. I hope that by the end of the year, or next year at least, I will be in a position to announce who will take over.
Owner and winemaker of Château Haut-Bages Libéral in Pauillac and Château Ferrière in Margaux: “If it was a person my wine would be an opera-singer, like Pavarotti”.
The fifth in Le Figaro Vin’s series brings us back to Bordeaux to meet Claire Villars-Lurton, #46 best winemaker in France, who has embraced biodynamic viticulture to create her exquisite wines at her two estates. In her interview she shares her passion for a vocation to which she has devoted the last 30 years.
Le Figaro Vin: How does it feel to be crowned a winemaking champion?
Claire Villars-Lurton: I am not sure that I am a winemaking champion, but I do feel that I am now on the right path and that I have fully found my feet. When I started there was so much to learn and I really struggled. After a time I wanted to take the lead. Today I feel that everything I have set in train makes sense and that I have a clear grasp of the way ahead.
Have you been training for long?
Yes, for almost 30 years. I have tried a variety of approaches and it hasn’t always been easy. I question almost everything and am never satisfied, which prompts me to challenge myself and also to push my colleagues out of their comfort zone. I cannot bear being comfortable and I don’t like treading water. It is now over 20 years since I took over at Château Haut-Bages Libéral and Château Ferrière. For the last 15 years I have immersed myself in a comprehensive training in biodynamic agriculture. I think it’s wonderful that there is now so much awareness and appreciation of its methodology, so much expertise, research, and literature, all of which paves the way towards an alternative viticulture.
Who is your mentor?
I have a number of mentors. The most important guide on my biodynamic adventure has been Alain Moueix who, crucially, has convinced my colleagues that this is the way forward. Jacques Lurton has shared his expertise on all things wine. Alain Canet (agroforestry adviser to Château Cheval Blanc, ed.) has helped me with the planting of trees in the vineyards. Four or five years ago I, my husband Gonzague (Lurton, owner of Château Durfort-Vivens, ed.), and the agronomist Konrad Schreiber, set up a knowledge-sharing platform for winemakers to pool their experience and expertise, “La Belle Vigne”. I have found this really helpful.
Is wine a team sport?
More than ever, especially when you don’t take shortcuts and don’t introduce cultured yeasts. We have to work with what we have, so we need to operate as a team, from vineyard to cellar. Wine is a team sport played in front of a huge number of spectators who are focused on the product.
What is the key to making a good wine? The terroir or the winemaker?
Always the terroir! But you need both. You can make a poor wine from a great terroir, while a good winemaker can never work miracles with poor terroir.
To what do you owe your success?
I am not sure that I have been successful. I would say that I owe a great deal to my education and my family. I had dynamic parents who refused to rest on their laurels. Mum was a role model, even though she was very young when she left us, and I never got to see her at work. I felt secure in the knowledge that my grandfather, my uncle, and my husband all had my back. Becoming sole owner at 30 developed my sense of responsibility. I knew that my family was always there for me, so now I am delighted by the thought that my children want to take up the reins.
Are your children proud of you?
You would have to ask them, as they certainly won’t tell me, but I think so.
Who is your biggest supporter?
My husband.
Your favourite colour?
Orange, because it’s a warm, bright colour that’s full of energy. As far as wine is concerned then, of course, it’s red.
The king of grape varieties?
Entirely predictably, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Your favourite wine?
Château Haut-Bages Libéral 2018.
Your favourite vintage?
I really like 2020, which is a bit like 2010.
If your wine was a person, who would it be?
It would be an opera-singer, like Pavarotti. Brilliant and luminous, with a perfect timbre, at once powerful and restrained.
What are the best circumstances in which to taste your wine?
I try to make a wine that can be enjoyed whatever the circumstances. Ideally, it’s when you share it with good friends or with family, at your leisure and with a lot of love.
Have you ever thought about chemically enhancing yourself, or your wine?
Never! I am called Claire and a given name like that means that I cannot cheat. I think our first names determine who we are. I’m a completely open book, so much so that I reveal too much, reveal everything. So absolutely no chemical enhancement for me, not even make-up.
For what price would you be prepared to sell your estate?
Money doesn’t interest me. I will never sell. It’s not money that makes me happy; it’s the tool of my trade, my land, that brings me joy.
Who is your strongest competition in Bordeaux?
My husband. He’s not really a competitor – if he were listening, I don’t think he’d take it very well! – but, all the same, there’s a slight competitive edge between Gonzague and me, which makes us motivate each other and which always keeps us on our toes. We both want to do our best and he is always pushing me to the next level. I try to match him, or even outperform him [laughs]. We really complement each other, and we admire each other a lot; for me to love someone is to admire them.
What is the competition that you fear the most?
People who cheat or use others to get ahead. I try to succeed on my own merits.
What are you most proud of?
My children.
What has been your most innovative strategy in the vineyard and in the cellar?
Bringing trees into the vineyard, embracing agroforestry, all the work we put in today to support the soil as a living organism. Our approach is to work organically, from the soil and roots up, to produce robust, healthy grapes more resistant to diseases and parasites.
In the cellar we have developed an innovative approach to protecting our wine against oxidisation, one which allows us to use the least sulphur possible, thereby reducing additives to a minimum. The active ingredient in sulphur is only part of the whole element. Although sulphur is indispensable, its use in the battle against oxidisation can be radically reduced, and that’s where our work is bearing fruit. Indeed, we are pioneers in the field.
Who would be your ideal successor on the podium?
My children, obviously. Inheritance is a central part of our Latin culture. I inherited my property and I want to leave something for the next generation.
Founder and first-generation winemaker of Domaine Giudicelli: “Making wine requires serious commitment”.
For the fourth in Le Figaro Vin’s series, we cross the water to Patrimonio, in Corsica, where Muriel Giudicelli, #47, creates her exquisite island wines. Here she shares her journey as a self-taught winemaker, on land she cherishes with a deeply-felt love.
Le Figaro: How does it feel to be crowned a winemaking champion?
Muriel Giudicelli: I am very proud for my appellation and for raising the profile of Patrimonio. I am a first-generation winemaker in Corsica, not a Corsican by birth. I want to play my part as an ambassador for this splendid terroir.
Have you been training for long?
From the age of thirteen! I have always been in it for the long haul. Wine was a shared family passion, which gave me an early appreciation of it and spared me the messy pitfalls of adolescent drinking.
Who is your mentor?
My parents, who were engaged in a continual tug of war. My father was on team Bordeaux, my mother team Burgundy. So I was the fortunate beneficiary of a double initiation, even if I have to acknowledge that Burgundy won out.
Is wine a team sport?
Yes, absolutely, as embodied in our estate: my husband takes care of the vines while I take care of the wine. And our team is soon going to get bigger, as our children are joining us. That makes me very happy and it will keep our egos in check.
What is the key to making a good wine? The terroir or the winemaker?
The terroir. A great winemaker can make a decent fist of inferior terroir but never a great wine. On the other hand, on good terroir, even a poor winemaker given a fair wind, who sits back and largely lets nature take its course, has a chance of producing something good.
To what do you owe your success?
I was lucky to love cooking, combining the right ingredients with a good sense of taste, without ever following recipes. I use the same process in my cellar. While my daughter is studying cookery, I don’t think that studying viticulture and oenology is essential, because you are always having to unlearn what you have learnt. In order to make wine you need to know how to taste, think ahead creatively, and, above all, make the best of what you’ve got. It all comes down to balance.
Are your parents proud of you?
Yes, very proud. They are great wine lovers. That said, my father is completely partisan. Even when my first efforts at winemaking were dreadful, he was full of praise. My mother, who taught in primary schools, has a discerning palate and strictly objective standards. As a result, she is far harder to please. When she tells me that a wine is “not bad”, that’s a real compliment.
Your favourite colour?
Red. Because it’s hard to mess up a white wine in Patrimonio.
The king of grape varieties?
Niellucciu (a red grape variety native to Patrimonio, ed.). It has the temperament of a Corsican, so you need to handle it with tact and diplomacy. You must always take pains to understand it. I didn’t understand it when I started, so that drinking my wines was truly like scaling your teeth.
Your favourite wine?
A blend of Niellucciu and Sciaccarellu, which comes out in 2024. Its name will be Terra Ros (Red Earth, ed.) because the vines are rooted in red clay soil.
Your favourite vintage?
2016, for both reds and whites.
If your wine was a person, who would it be?
I hope it is like me.
What are the best circumstances in which to taste your wine?
Among friends around a good meal. The psychological factor plays a big part in tasting, perhaps even more than the wine itself.
Have you ever thought about chemically enhancing yourself, or your wine?
I used additives when I started, not knowing how to vinify. I was all over the place, trying out different concoctions, which is why I want to spare my children from making the same mistakes. It was truly sad, I was hopeless.
For what price would you be prepared to sell your estate?
The question has come up, because there was a long period when my children didn’t want to take it on. But we could never bring ourselves to fix a price, because of our visceral attachment to our land. I cannot put a price on it.
Who is your strongest competition in Corsica?
Rather than a competitor, it is someone who has been much more a mentor. Antoine Arena’s opinion really matters to me and he was the person who helped me get established. I think that, by now, I have earned his approval, which is a big thing, because he has an overall responsibility for the appellation. I would hate to disappoint him. He is something of a spiritual father to me.
What has been your most innovative strategy in the vineyard and in the cellar?
A battle I won with myself. I had some pretty fixed ideas when I started and didn’t believe in temperature regulation. Although I remain convinced that it’s a heresy in the case of white wines, I was forced to use it to deal with a micro fungus which affects the vines we use for my reds. This has required maintaining a temperature of around 25°C. I now realise that this has greatly improved the tannin extraction. It has markedly changed the profile of my reds.
Who would be your ideal successor on the podium?
I hope it will be my children. They have learnt that making wine is not just about having fun; it’s a serious business, which requires serious commitment. It is also a commitment to the appellation.