A winemaker as international as he was rooted in the Bordeaux vineyards, Michel Rolland was inseparable from the prosperous period of Robert Parker's influence on the wine industry, having created the concept of the flying winemaker and accompanied the development of garage wines. Not missing a good word, nor a joke, Michel Rolland was a free figure in the sector, scratching where it hurts, while defending Bordeaux production in the face of ever more exacerbated difficulties.
This Friday, March 20 at the morning of the Bordeaux Oenologists' Association: one of their most eminent representatives, Michel Rolland, has just passed away. Having succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 78, as announced by Sud-Ouest, this figure of the modern oenologist has carried the techniques of maturation, maturation and blending in the Bordeaux style all over the world. Very involved in South America (particularly in Argentina with the Clos de los Siete project), this native of Libourne had created the Rolland laboratory in Pomerol in 1973, with his wife Danièle "Dany" Rolland, where he shone in all the vineyards of Bordeaux, particularly for the Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés but also the "garage wines" of the 1990s, and from all over the world, having launched more than one ambitious project in an emerging wine-growing area.
A disciple of the more discreet professor of oenology Émile Peynaud, Michel Rolland became a world star when Jonathan Nossiter's documentary MondoVino was broadcast in 2004. If Michel Rolland was caricatured as a flying winemaker drinking with all his might to seduce the tastes and notes of the critic Robert Parker, he drew from it an unusual fame for consulting oenologists. A recognized technician, Michel Rolland was able to base his career on his proximity to Robert Parker, with whom he formed a tandem as influential as it was criticized in the field.
The man who knew Bordeaux Parker
Defending his friend, the founder of the Wine Advocate, Michel Rolland described, during a lengthy interview at the Cité du Vin in September 2017, "a fabulous taster, who makes mistakes like everyone else, but who has a remarkable memory, an ability to taste 150 to 180 wines with the same acuity." This talent, and a dose of luck, naturally led to growing notoriety and influence, adds Michel Rolland: "He took all the orders, everyone trusted him. The sorrowful minds will tell you that it is too hegemonic. But in the meantime, we were lucky that he really likes Bordeaux (with the Rhône and the Napa Valley). »
While the trend towards over-ripeness and a woody taste continue to be criticised, "I have never seen a consumer disappointed by the taste of wood. It only disappointed some journalists, because for once they found a taste... Sorry, I won't do it again! He said with a carnivorous smile at the Cité du Vin. Never missing the opportunity for a good word, or a joke, Michel Rolland was a defender of Bordeaux wine in particular. With his colleague, the consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, he signed the Iconic Winemaker range in 2021 as a manifesto to illustrate the potential of Bordeaux wines. Having faced Bordeaux bashing, Michel Rolland acknowledged that "we may have a flaw in Bordeaux, we may be a little arrogant. So we were attacked for arrogance, for the quality of our wines... But for the consultant, Bordeaux wines offer unbeatable value for money: "Bordeaux wines are among the cheapest in the world." He was himself a producer of Bordeaux wines, such as with Château le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol (sold in 2013 with two other properties to Hong Kong investors).
Having taken his foot off the gas from his consulting activity, selling the laboratory founded with his wife to his three collaborating partners in 2020, Michel Rolland said he was "always there to shout" and to have "now more of a traveller's activity than a Bordeaux speaker. I love it. »
Source: Vitisphere By Alexandre Abellan
photo credit: Alexandre Abellan (archives 2017)
