Jean Claude Berrouet
Although now retired from the JP Moueix stable, Jean Claude Berrouet’s influence on Bordeaux remains as strong as ever. He became the first permanent oenologist at Chateau Pétrus in 1964, when he was in his early 20s; before that Emile Peynaud worked as consultant on a part-time basis. Back in 1964, Pétrus was a promising vineyard, certainly, but it was one of many great Pomerol names, not the one (besides Le Pin) that would come to represent the very best that this tiny Right Bank appellation has to offer. Fourty-four vintages later, Berrouet can look back on his career with some satisfaction.
Not that he’s exactly retired. He still works as a consultant for the Moueix family, helps his youngest son Jean Francois at Vieux Château Saint André in Montagne Saint Emilion (his eldest Olivier has taken over the role as winemaker at Petrus while Eric Murisasco, his assistant for the past 15 years, is in charge at the other Moueix estates), teaches at the Faculty of Oenology and continues to make his own wine, Herri Mina, in the French Pyrenees.
I first met Berrouet when I had been in Bordeaux for around either months, and was writing one of my first articles for Decanter, on the wines of southwest France. Born in the tiny commune of Itxassou, near Bearn, Berrouet is a child of the Pyrenees, and he returned there in 1998 to buy his own 4.5 hectare biodynamic wine estate in Ispoure, in the obscure appellation of Irouleguy (where he vinifies in the cellars of Jean Brana of Domaine Brana). The wine, Herri Mina, is a blend of Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng and a small amount of Petit Courbu. He also produces a 100% cabernet franc red. Herri Mina means for nostalgia in Basque, and as Berrouet has explained in a previous interview, ‘The choice of this name was very symbolic. I am sentimental, and buying this property was the best way for me to rediscover my roots. I am the youngest son of a Basque family from Itxassou, who gave me a love of our beautiful region with its strong cultural heritage. I wanted to return there to explore my passion for wine and the vine.’
We tasted the wine together and I remember being enormously pleased that he agreed with my prognosis. But I now know that said far more about Berruouet than my skills as a taster – he is far too much of a gentleman to make anyone feel uncomfortable. And he takes that thoughtful, gentle manner into his approach to winemaking.
‘When I met Jean Francois Moueix (then owner of Pétrus), I met a man of culture, who shared my views on many subjects, and who subsequently enriched my life in many ways. He recruited me to Petrus in September 1964 – it was him that brought me here first of all, not the wine.’
‘I am above all a technician. It’s not about the bottle or the value at the end of the day, it’s about the wine. Personally, of all the wines I made with Moueix, I love Chateau Trotanoy for its seduction and Chateau Magdelaine for its femininity and delicacy. And of course there is Pétrus. We have ten Pomerols within our stable, and I’m always naively surprised by how much Chateau Pétrus stands out, and even within Pétrus, there are four or five parcels that are just outstanding.’
‘The most joyful wines for me are white Burgundies, with their finesse and generosity of expression. I also love Rioja, the traditional versions with their enormous personality, wines that have a real expression and that tell a story, that’s what I love. But always on the side of tradition. The wines of Priorat are exuberant, certainly, but they interest me less.’
‘Eighty per cent of Bordeaux wines are well made, but we don’t talk about them enough. Wines such as Chateau Bel Air in St Emilion Chateau Haut Bailly or Chateau Olivier in Pessac Leognan, Chateau Ducrcu Beaucaillou in Saint Julien – quiet, discreet wines that deserve real praise. The most damaging thing I have seen over my career is the systematic use of aggressive techniques such as green harvesting and over-extraction and over-maturation. Perhaps these things can make good wines, but not Bordeaux wines.’
His affinity with keeping things quiet and discreet extends to the way in which he believes the wine should be sold, and he created a stir last year when he criticised the annual futures week. ‘With the en primeurs, we judge our wines too quickly. When I started with Jean Pierre Moueix, we sold Chateau Pétrus in May or June, and it was only tasted once it had been sold. At the time, in the 1960s and 1970s, only a few top wines were sold in this way, the rest were sold in bottle. Today, it’s hundreds of wines, meaning they all have to be as seductive as possible far earlier, to the detriment perhaps of the style of Bordeaux wine.’
As many pointed out, this is pretty ironic coming from the man who is behind Pétrus – a wine that today changes hands for thousands of pounds a bottle, and made early investors handsomely rich. He would be the first to agree. ‘Perhaps the success of Pétrus has contributed to this because others wanted to follow suit, but really the idea of selling in April is a media creation. It’s getting earlier and earlier, and now certain organisations are taking tastings out of Bordeaux to other cities. It’s a drama, not a profession. Those who know wine know it can vary over time and know you need to follow it carefully, not judge it in a moment of madness.’
‘It would be better to return to a more professional context. Of course there must be people writing about wine, but the focus should move back to professionals. If a sports journalist could change the makeup of a national rugby team, we would think it was strange; that’s the job of the coach, not the critic. The speculation market is a disaster for wine. It should be made to be drunk and enjoyed; as soon as it becomes a financial product, it’s no longer a wine. We have taken wine hostage and need to set it free. It’s sad and regrettable that many wine lovers who may not be wealthy will have less of a chance to drink Bordeaux’s best wines.’
He is clearly more comfortable returning to talking about process of wine-making. The first wine that stood out for him was Latour 1961, when he tasted it in tank in 1962. He was at the Faculty of Oenology at the time, and a sample arrived for the students to taste. ‘It was so young and so full of promise. I will never forget it.’
In his own career, he says he is most proud of making the 1975 Pétrus – of the technical realisation that he could do it even in a difficult vintage. ’I learnt the opposite of what many people do today – short maceration, short extraction, keeping the delicacy. But I also love the 1971, the most fine, even expression of merlot. And the 1982, for the generosity of nature, the rich fruit. But nature always manages to surprise us. 1964 was my first vintage and it was hot with an enormous quantity of grapes, but it’s still a wonderful wine today and it is proof that you should be humble in front of wine, that terroir is stronger than man.’
And when he’s not making or teaching about wine, he is still considering what he will do next – with many people asking whether he will write a book of his memories. ‘Perhaps I will write a tasting book at some point. I’m the son of a poet, words are important to me. But not an autobiography. My life isn’t important, just the terroir that I have passed through.’
A turn of phrase of which his father would undoubtedly be proud.