Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/807387
84 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } APRIL/MAY 2017 { enologists } THINK OF BORDEAUX'S LEADING INFLUENCERS over the last few decades and two names will most surely come to mind: Michel Rolland and André Lurton. Rolland, 69, a native of Libourne who grew up on his family's wine estate in Pomerol, runs a number of his own properties in Bordeaux and oversees wine - making at dozens of others. Outside of Bordeaux he has his hand in projects and wineries from Spain to Argentina and beyond. He is, by all accounts, the world's most influential enologist. Lurton, 92, whose family owns six châteaux across Bordeaux and manages more than 1,600 acres of vineyards, has been a driving force in the region for close to 60 years, dedicating his life to growing exceptional Bordeaux wines and championing the region's viticultural legacy. Yet, for all their vision and success independently, the two had never worked together until last year when Rolland took on a consulting role to blend the red wines at two of Lurton's estates in Bordeaux: Château Bonnet in Entre-Deux- Mers and Château La Louvière in Pessac-Léognan. To them, it was a meeting of like minds over 40 years in the making that had somehow never come to fruition. For the rest of the wine world, it was a collaboration that many simply assumed had already taken place. Recently in New York, Rolland, who just celebrated his 44th harvest in Bordeaux, took time to speak with The Somm Journal about this newest role, his winemaking vision and the real Bordeaux. A CONVERSATION WITH Michel Rolland PHOTO COURTESY OF LES VIGNOBLES ANDRÉ LURTON Michel Rolland. PHOTO COURTESY OF LES VIGNOBLES ANDRÉ LURTON THE LEGENDARY ENOLOGIST TALKS FRANKLY ON WINE, BORDEAUX AND HIS NEWEST PROJECT WITH ANDRÉ LURTON by David Ransom The historic Château La Louvière in Pessac- Léognan was acquired and restored by André Lurton in 1965.