Rolland
Once again, Michel Rolland was in Mendoza, a place he visits four times a year. The farmers’ conflict with the government made him hold his own winery construction, although he is still optimistic about the future of the Argentinean wines. He narrates how El Clos de los Siete company was born, and confirms the relationship between wine and pleasure.
“Failure is not possible when trading in the International market”
Michel Rolland has been one of the foremost wine consultants in the world for the last 25 years. His name is linked to the Vinicultural New World explosion and to the aggiornamento of certain wine styles in the most traditional countries. Rolland is used to coming to Mendoza four times a year, where he has become the mentor of El Clos de los Siete project, and is now building his own winery - nowadays delayed due to the mentioned farmers’ conflict. He is also the owner of the Eno Rolland laboratory, situated in Lujan de Cuyo city downtown, where he received Mauricio Llaver, Punto a Punto editor. Rolland was extraordinarily kind and spoke and excellent Spanish, even using Argentinean words such as molleja (sweetbread), entraña (entrails) and, unfortunately, including also the word piqueteros (picket people).
How many Argentinean wineries are you advising?
Directly, I am advising all the wineries belonging to El Clos de los Siete and Bodega del Fin del Mundo winery, in the Patagonia. I also own this laboratory (Eno Rolland) where, along with the young people working with me, we advise other firms. I come four times a year and I taste the wines for which I give my opinion. So, in that way, I am giving an indirect advising too. And in Salta, I am an Etchart family’s partner for Yacochuya.
How many firms throughout the world do you advise?
Around a hundred.
I assist five clients owning five or six different wineries, but I consider each of them as only one client. Some of them work in different countries, like Catherine Pére Vergé, who is the owner of Monteviejo winery in Vista Flores and three vineyards in France.
In how many countries do you advise?
Thirteen. It is not bad. I have to travel for a while…
How are you doing with the construction of your winery in El Clos de los Siete?
This time I was thinking on moving forward about the winery itself. However, due to nowadays Argentinean instability, we prefer to wait a little bit. Anyway, I was not ready for the 2009 harvest, so, my purpose now is the year 2010.
Does it mean that you have slowed down your project a little?
Yes. I am waiting for some weeks or months to see what happens, because, in the recent past, there have been many unpredictable outcomes in the Argentinean economy.
Is the same situation going to affect the Argentinean wines presence in the International market?
Of course, it is. And it is a pity because Argentina has been working very well until now. And it is caused by foolishness…because, for me, not being Argentinean, what is happening is nonsense. Failure is not possible when trading in the International market. When somebody says: “Look, we cannot reach on time because of pickets or truck drivers blocking the routes, which is making impossible to get to the port, the American people do not take it into consideration”. This situation does not exist in other countries. If the Argentinean wines do not arrive on time, they will look for other suppliers. The International market is made up of competence and you should always be ready. You cannot do that.
Jay Miller said that the 2006 Argentinean harvest was amazing. How do you assess the recent harvests?
I think almost the same; however, the harvests are not easy to be classified due to different variables. Globally talking, I think that the 2006 harvest was a very good one, having a low yield which helped to improve the wine quality. There are excellent wines from 2005 harvest, but the following one was higher, diluting the wine a little, consequently. And the 2007 outcome needs time to be assessed. It is not completely homogeneous and certain wines may be better than the 2006 ones, although I do not believe this is such globally.
How do assess the year 2008?
I have not tasted enough wines to assess it. However, I have tasted the El Clos de los Siete wines and they seem to be very good. In November we will find out whether it is good or very good.
How did the idea of El Clos de los Siete come to you?
I came to Argentina in 1988 for the first time, and besides of falling in love with this country, I thought it had the potential for wonderful wines. One day, I imagined a project to produce things properly, the way they must be done, and I told this to my friend Jean Michael Arcaute, who unfortunately is dead now. We found this land of 850 hectares in Vista Flores. We bought it, and started to look for investors for the property was larger than what we had originally planned. This happened in 1996, when there were no so good wines as there are today. When we look back, we find the improving amazing.
How far can the Argentinean wines get?
There is a good future, and this is noticeable in the International market. Argentina may be an important player because it makes about 15 million hectoliters of wine, which turns it into a non-marginal country in the market.
The Mendoza city you knew in your first trip was different from the nowadays one?
It is very different. I remember that when I arrived, I tasted near 35 wines and I did not like any of them. But the potential was present because, even in a bad wine, you can notice whether it can be improved. It was a different time, with a wine style easy to be sold in the domestic market. Even though I do not criticize it, it was very different from the ideas I was bringing.
Do you have any Argentinean favorite wine?
There are at least 40 or 50 wines of a high range. Even though it is not a large amount, it increases every year. I think that Argentina can develop excellent wines and affordable for the market. Just producing 2,000 bottles at a price of 500 dollars each, builds a country image. However, producing one million bottles, at a price of 70 dollars each wine crate, like El Clos de los Siete does, is a true image.
Large, profitable and quality projects should be achieved, the ones that are affordable by many world consumers.
What other projects of this type can you notice in Argentina?
There are several, such as Salentein, Catena, Norton… and many other firms. The Argentinean image is built up by the big ones –whose products are hard to be consumed because they are few and expensive – and by a wine “trend”, obligatorily present in all the markets.
When is “Vinos de Argentina” new edition, by Enrique Chrabolowsky, going to be published?
It is already published. This is the third edition. In the first one there were 170 wines; in the second, 240; and now, it includes 350 wines. For the last edition, I carried out the tasting in December, and some comments were made…I remember that an Argentinean newspaper wrote that I had tasted 350 samples in two hours!
Which was your best record for a single day?
I can taste 170, 180 wines per day. I can taste 250 samples in a single day, but just of juice in fermentation, something I do in France while I monitor the vineyards during the grape harvest. However, I do not need to write down or record anything there.
Since when do you have this passion for wine?
Since I was young. My family belonged to the wine, in Bordeaux. I was brought up in a vineyard, and studied Oenology. I became wine maker like any other ordinary one. Being fortunate enough, I added my traveling chances to that passion. In 1985, I went to the United Status for the first time as a wine advisor, and it helped me a lot.
Do you have any Argentinean favorite restaurant?
On the first day, I always go to La Barra with my wife. And I ask for sweetbreads, entrails and sirloin steak. All served with a torrontés.
With a torrontés?
Yes, because you only find it here.
However, a sirloin steak accompanied by a torrontés is a little unusual…
Pleasure is what minds. Sometimes we forget that wine means pleasure. Obviously a Malbec having good tannins will match better with a sirloin steak. But we just enjoy the torrontés, and we do not need to ask ourselves whether it does match. We drink it and enjoy it.
Punto a Punto magazine # 96 / Mendoza – Argentina /
