the best of the best :
AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHEL ROLLAND
By Lia Tolaini-Banville
Michel Rolland , enologist extraordinaire ( photo courtesy Sandro Michahelles , Firenze , Italia )
In February of this year , I had a chance to sit down with Michel Rolland , undoubtedly the most famous and sought-after enologist in the world . I have had the great fortune of getting to know Michel through his work as the consulting enologist at Tolaini Estate , our family winery in Tuscany .
Born , raised , and living in Bordeaux , Michel Rolland is an incredibly charming gentleman with a French accent that adds to his debonair flair . In his late 50s and a dedicated family man , Michel has two daughters and a beautiful wife , Dani , of over 30 years . He moves through his work and everyday life with an enviable joie de vivre .
In a sense , Michel was born into the wine business . “ My father and grandfather owned ( Chateau ) Le Bon Pasteur and a few other wineries in Bordeaux so I learned about wine early ,” he shares . When Michel graduated with a degree in enology in 1973 , he found work in a regional enology lab situated in the now ultra-premium Right Bank Bordeaux appellation of Pomerol . He and Dani purchased the lab in 1976 and today it serves as the home base for their consulting business . The laboratoire receives samples from wineries around the world and is entrusted to perform the many analytical tests needed to ensure the production of healthy wines and , more importantly today , quality wines .
Michel recounts , “ In the early days , the customers of the lab did basic analyses of their wines and did not want any advice . The job of an enologist was straightforward . No one spoke about quality , they just wanted a safe wine with no volatile acidity , no bad smells , et cetera .” Michel explains that it was the highly-regarded warm Bordeaux vintage of 1982 that changed things .
In subsequent vintages , producers strove to repeat the quality of the 1982 vintage and Michel Rolland quickly became the man to ask . His approach to vineyard management , grape maturity , and vinification rose to the vanguard of contemporary wine production . Rolland advocated severe grape selections , yield reductions by green harvest ( early removal of grape bunches to reduce vine fruit load
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