Lagrezette Blog

Alain Dominique Perrin answers DANDY’s questions

A recent issue of Dandy magazine devoted a long portrait and interview to Monsieur Alain Dominique Perrin.

We met the luxury manager, art enthusiast and of course... winegrower. The reporter, of course, recalled the not-so-distant but definitely bygone days when « ADP » was involved in promoting the Cahors name of origin… Here is the excerpt:

With your personality and your feel for marketing and business, you achieved the emergence of the Cahors name of origin, only to relinquish it today?

Alain-Dominique Perrin: « I have not relinquished the name! Château Lagrezette is still the leading vintage of that name, some are kind enough to say « the great vintage of Cahors »… I directed and loved that name of origin for about ten years, I did everything I could to make it known and make it emerge from obscurity somewhat, bring it into the limelight There were terrific results: the quality and prices of Cahors wines went up. One day I suggested becoming a great vintage, or at least a first-rate vintage, which would have been possible with the new European legislation, but that would have required sacrifices, doing away with some poorly placed vineyards, and they took fright and didn’t go ahead with it. Today they bitterly regret it...

You won’t come back?

Alain-Dominique Perrin: Never! I’m fond of them but it’s over: I dedicated myself to Cahors a great deal, to the detriment of Lagrezette, which I no longer had time to take care of and which had disappeared from the screen to some extent. Now Lagrezette is back on the screen because I’m taking care of it a great deal. And because so is Michel Rolland! We make a very good wine, which is now internationally acknowledged as the best French Malbec, by the Argentineans, the Americans, the British… Today, I’m taking a great deal of care of my wine, I achieve superior quality and I’m reaping the fruits. I gave Cahors all I could give it, they didn’t always jump on the bandwagon when they needed to, especially at the end, and now basta: every man for himself.

Memories…

                                           

Alain Dominique Perrin, where did wine fit into your life before you became a winemaker?

As I have had nombers of occasions to say, I did not decide to become a winemaker. However, “Perrin” is indeed a Burgundy name and wine has always had a place in our family, which is not to say that we were all soused! I remember my childhood very well, just after the war… My father would go down to the cellar to get his wine. I would go with him and watch him bottle the wine. He bought it "in bulk" by the cask, like most bourgeois families of the period… He had a hand-operated corking machine, a simple little device; the new corks would soak in a basin and you would buy clean bottles that dripped dry on the little bottle stands.

You have to understand that, in the ‘50s, even the grands crus of Bordeaux were purchased "in bulk"! Today, at sales of collections, you’ll find "Latours," "Margaux," or great Burgundy wines with the label of the merchant who had bottled it placed above the winemaker’s label.

For example, I have some large bottles from the period with the label "Calvet" and "Mau”, the names of large-scale merchants of the time… But that not-so-long-ago period is gone now. Although I’m not particularly sentimental, I find I miss it, all the same. It protected us against the speculation and elitist nature, which surrounds certain appellations and which I find to be far removed from the spirit of wine.

But we will get back to that; since there is so much to be said about it…

When ADP tackles the Bordeaux…

By Alain Dominique Perrin

A recent interview in the magazine Vin de France caused a stir in "le Landerneau bordelais"… Alain Dominique Perrin stood up and pointed out the outrageous rates at which the "Great" Bordeaux wines are being sold today, including vintages that are, after all, qualified—out of kindness—as rather mediocre.

Whether they like it or not, I often stand up against the astronomical prices now charged for what they are calling the "great Bordeaux” wines. We should not forget that they were purchased in bulk 40 years ago… I remember very well buying magnums of Petrus, new wines, in 1975. I had paid 60 francs for them at the time. That might be 500 francs today, let’s say €80… Now, you can expect to pay €2,000! So there is a problem, right? Admittedly, quality has a price but beyond a certain amount, we are no longer talking about wine.

At Lagrézette, we work every day to produce an excellent wine but we will never produce a luxury item. That would be contrary to what I have believed in since the start: viz., offering a wine we are proud of at an honest price. I know luxury; I devoted the largest part of my working life to it. But I am fighting—and will continue to fight—to make sure wine remains a pleasure accessible to the greatest number of people.

Wines of Château Lagrézette: Le Pigeonnier

For ten years now, the Cuvée "Le Pigeonnier" has been the one of the jewels of our estate.

This is a 100% Malbec wine, from vines that are 25 years old, and planted in clay and limestone soil on the third terrace of the Lot, in top-quality land surrounded by stone walls. After being harvested by hand and sorted, in addition to the double annual thinning, the crop is vinified in wooden vats, in new barrels. Then the wine will age in our cellars for 28 months, in barrels made of French oak. Sold in France, this beautifully complex wine also has a solid reputation in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain. The story of how its creation is worth telling. It was in 1997, at the end of a year noted for its heavy frosts, particularly on this section located near the Château. We were obliged, because we had no choice, to reduce our production to 18 hectoliters per hectare, which is very little. At Lagrézette, each parcel is harvested separately; so we can evaluate the quality of each one of them-at the first tastings. The outstanding quality of these casks was immediately apparent. Terroir, variety, low volume and harvest at the peak of maturity... were the circumstances had created the conditions for an unexpected magic to occur. It was Alain-Dominique Perrin’s intuition and genius that made him decide to confirm this chance event, and to reproduce the experiment in the following vintages. Through leaf-pulling and thinning, we have maintained this low volume of 18 hectoliters per hectare, of grapes harvested at full maturity.

This micro cuvée was given the name of the registered Historic Monument which rises above this parcel.

And thus "Le Pigeonnier” was born...

The magic worked perfectly. The promise was fulfilled. 1999 was exceptional, 2001 also. 2005 will be an excellent year.

Parker awarded this wine a rating of 95 out of 100, which he had never before given, to a 100% Malbec varietal. This recognition has quite naturally led to the positioning of Lagrézette on the map of the Great Malbecs of the World.