It’s Monday morning, so you probably have three unbroken hours available to you so you can watch this fascinating series of BBC documentaries on The Wine Industry. If you don’t have the free time to press play, bookmark this page and get into it when you can.
The first film, The Firm, “unwittingly becomes a chronicle of the changing world order and Berrys’ Chairman Simon Berry unveils the secrets of a successful family-owned and run business. From the unassuming winemaker David Clarke of the small village of Morey-Saint-Denis, in Burgundy, to the wily General Manager of Chateau Cos d’Estournel, Jean-Guillaume Prats, — one of Bordeaux’s premium chateaux, the programme explores the eccentric and compelling world of wine.”
The second film, The Faith, “charts the creation of the 2008 vintage at Margaux, one of the world’s greatest wine estates. Corinne Mentzelopoulos, daughter of a Greek supermarket tycoon, introduces us to the chateau her family has owned for the past 30 years, as everyone from vineyard worker to chief winemaker looks anxiously at a sky which appears hellbent on making the year a wretched one. One bottle of this cult wine can cost up to 1,000 pounds if the vintage is good, but the quality of the vintage is always in the lap of the weather gods. Blessed by sunshine and a soaring economy in previous years, Margaux has turned itself into the world’s luxury wine. From the inside, we track the meticulous cultivation of a top-notch brand, with Margaux’s urbane director Paul Pontallier playing the role of chief evangelist as we follow him all the way to China where he is almost mobbed by devotees of Margaux.”
The third film, The Future, “looks at the importance of the industry to South Africa’s future and why, despite a history that stretches back to the 17th century, it still hasn’t decided what its identity should be. Oupa Rangaka and Mark Solms are two unlikely wine producers. Six years ago, Oupa, a retired philosophy professor, didn’t even drink wine, let alone make it. Today he and his family, including three-year-old grandson Kwena, are the only black people to own a vineyard in South Africa. Its survival depends on their ongoing relationship with Marks and Spencer and convincing the judges at London’s International Wine Challenge that their pinotage passes muster. Mark is a world-renowned neuroscientist who inherited the family business, and is struggling to reconcile his idealistic plans for the farm with the practical realities of post-apartheid South Africa. Via the struggles of these two remarkable men, wine becomes a prism through which to view the current state of the Rainbow Nation.”
A couple of footnotes:
Jean Guillaume Prats is no longer at Chateau Cos d’Estournel – he left in October 2012 and is now on the board of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). I was lucky enough to host Mr.Prats here in Vancouver a couple of years ago and I always remember his quote about Cos d’Estournel: “I no longer make wine…I make a commodity”.
Chateau Margaux – I will be lucky enough to have Chateau Margaux in Vancouver for some events in early 2014. Dates and venues are still being worked out. This will be the first time in a long time that Vancouver will host a Bordeaux First Growth Chateau.
Oh boy Bordeaux………..sorry I just nodded off there.