First published in the Melbourne Age, 2007, updated September 2008
Benoit Trocard, a young Bordeaux winemaker, was working at TarraWarra Estate in Australia's Yarra Valley when he was struck by the different attitude to wine he found in the southern hemisphere. ‘When you think of Australian or Californian wine, you think of freshness, ease, friendship – there’s no need to open the bottle two hours before drinking it, no need to think too hard about what to match it with. But in Bordeaux, too often there’s a barrier between the wine and the consumer.’
Heading back to France in 2005, he found plenty of his young winemaking friends were having similar thoughts. Determined to do something to shake Bordeaux out of its traditional mindset, they got together and formed an association known as Bordeaux Oxygène – so-called because they wanted to bring a breath of fresh air to the region.
The group of 18 friends met when studying wine at the institute of oenology, and are from the various regions of Bordeaux; some from the blue blood areas of the Medoc, Pomerol and Saint Emilion, others from the more lowly Bordeaux and Entre deux Mers appellations. There are plenty of big names among them (the daughter of flying winemaker Michel Rolland is one, the daughter of Chateau Angelus’ Herbert de Bouard another), but what really linked them was the decision to stop talking about terroir and centuries of heritage, and start talking about fruit, pleasure and actually drinking rather than cellaring their wines.
‘Our parents did great things in terms of technique,’ Trocard continued, ‘so the problem wasn’t quality, it was much more about marketing and presentation. We don’t pretend to have a miracle cure, but we do think that together, thanks to our passion and the quality of our wines, we can make a difference and start people taking a fresh look at Bordeaux.’
It doesn’t take long to realise that this is more than just words. Marketing can seem like a dirty word in France, where winemakers tend to coast along on the idea of being ‘seventh generation of this, fifth generation of that’. But no one here is standing on the famous names of their parents – pretty much everyone in the group has worked in vineyards abroad, mainly in Australia, California, South Africa and Argentina that has given them a wide knowledge and respect for wines from other countries – and a real passion to communicate.
‘We are a bunch of friends all working in family estates, but coming from different backgrounds. Some of us have always worked in wine, others came from industries like hotels and fashion, and then moved back to work with our families. We not coming from a commercial imperative, it’s more about exchange and communication and a desire to meet other young winemakers and consumers – and show them just how great Bordeaux wine can be.’
‘For us, coming to Melbourne is a perfect fit. It’s the major city of a wine-producing region, just like Bordeaux, and there’s a real knowledge about wine from consumers. We have a lot to learn about marketing and promotion, and there have been so many innovations out of Australia. In France, we have the habit of waiting for the world to come to us, but of course there are two jobs – making good wine, and also selling it. Because there’s no point making cracking bottles if nobody’s enjoying them.’
Bordeaux Oxygène:
Matthieu Cuvelier (Château Clos Fourtet, Saint-Emilion, Jean-Christophe Mau (Château Brown et Preuilhac), Mathieu Chadronnier (château Marsau), Jean-Baptiste Bourotte (Château Bonalgue and Clos du Clocher), Eloise Heeter-Tari (château Nairac), Jean-Jacques Bonnie (Château Malartic-Lagravière), Jérôme Tourbier (Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Erwan Flageul (Château Brillette), Séverinne Bonnie (Château Malartic Lagraviere), Alice Cathiard –Tourbier, Thibaut Despagne (Château Tour de Mirambeau and Mont- Pérat), Florence lafragette, (Château de Rouillac, de l’Hospital, et Loudenne), Bénoît Trocard (Clos Dubreuil and clos de la Vieille Eglise), Sylvie Courcelle (château Thieuley), Jean-Antoine Nony (Château Grand Mayne), Edouard Labruyère (Château Rouget). Juliette Bécot-Château Joanin Bécot,) Marie Courselle, Heloise Aubard (Chateau La Couspaude), Basaline Despagne, Caroline Frey (Château la Lagune), Stéphanie Rolland (Château le Bon Pasteur, Fontenil, la Grande Clotte)