When it comes to learning, theory alone isn’t everything. The people working across our estates know that the right encounter can sometimes change the course of a career. Here are three stories of winegrowers passing on their expertise.
We gain knowledge from education, but we also get insights from practical experience. At times, we meet individuals who place their confidence in us and genuinely enjoy offering guidance. These mentors can profoundly shape our professional journeys.
The word ‘mentor’ has deep historical roots. It dates back to Ancient Greece, when Ulysses entrusted his friend Mentor with educating his son before setting off for the Trojan War. Over time, a ‘mentor’ has come to signify a guide, someone who shares their expertise and wisdom.
The modern-day mentors across our estates may no longer wear togas, but they roll up their sleeves, working the land and shaping not just their own careers, but the paths of others around them. We spoke to Juliette Couderc, Matthieu Pilloton and Francis Perez, each of whom has experienced mentorship in their own unique way.
Nothing in Juliette Couderc’s life prepared her for shuttling between China and Bordeaux, or becoming Estate Manager at Château L’Évangile. Although her education in agronomy and oenology had prepared her for the role, she had pictured herself living in the Languedoc instead.
During an internship at a fertilisation consultancy, Juliette met the man who would become her manager and mentor a few years later. At the time, all she’d heard about Olivier Tregoat was her tutor’s glowing praise. Juliette also admits that ‘his research papers proved invaluable’ for her dissertation. She ran into Olivier again by chance while she was working temporarily on a vineyard near Domaine d’Aussières.
A few weeks later, she received a call that would lead her to a new adventure. Olivier, by then the Technical Director of Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite, initiated the contact, offering Juliette a vineyard manager role at the Long Dai estate in China. She initially declined—it was too far from her ambitions. But Olivier persisted, explaining the vast potential of the estate and ultimately convincing her to take the leap.
‘He taught me to summarise everything I observed on a daily basis and to organise all the information I had to provide him,’
On her 25th birthday, Juliette made her first trip to the Qiu Shan Valley, accompanied by Olivier. He returned every three months to guide her through her assignments, continuing their training remotely between visits. ‘He taught me to summarise everything I observed on a daily basis and to organise all the information I had to provide him,’ Juliette recalls. Working within a new culture has taught her tolerance, humility and the importance of anticipating any misunderstandings. Working alongside Olivier has made her more confident: ‘He never forgot to ask me about my wellbeing. His concerns extended beyond the narrow framework of my responsibilities.’
She stayed in Long Dai from 2017 to 2020, gaining three years of experience. (It felt much longer thanks to the extensive knowledge she had acquired.) When she thought of leaving the group to return to the Languedoc, Olivier offered her a new role. He didn’t tell her it was for a position at Château L’Évangile right away. He knew that the Bordeaux region and the role of spokesperson wouldn’t sound enticing enough for her. But eventually, despite her reservations, she placed her faith in him and assumed responsibility for the vineyards of Château L’Évangile in September 2020, during the grape harvest. Although the land to the south-east of Pomerol is less exotic than Shandong, Juliette continues to grow under Olivier’s mentorship. They enjoy having conversations about soil types, grape varieties, planting, winemaking methods, and the effects of climate.
What does Olivier make of all of this? When prompted, the mentor replies spontaneously: ‘All the people I’ve recruited, including Juliette, have a terrific team spirit. And you can really sense this on a daily basis.’
And the story doesn’t end there. Juliette now has the opportunity, in turn, to share her knowledge with Jeanne, who joined her team as a technical assistant in 2023.
Former Cellar Master, Château Lafite Rothschild
If you’ve worked at Château Lafite Rothschild, it’s hard not to know Francis Perez. Although he retired recently, Francis was determined to take part in his 40th harvest. We caught up with him during his final season at the estate. He was kind enough to share his thoughts on his role as a mentor—a role that had a lasting impact on the estate and its people.
Throughout his time, Francis recruited and trained no fewer than 14 individuals in the craft of winemaking. He joined Lafite in 1994 following his first tenure at Château Duhart-Milon. At the time, he was juggling numerous projects simultaneously, compelling him to increase the size of his teams as production escalated over the years.
‘It’s normal to pass on your knowledge: there are technical gestures, getting to grips with the machinery, the correct sequence of stages etc. It’s not innate; it has to be learnt!’
The people he hired were not exclusively from the “inner circle”. Francis mentioned a former electrician, a former baker, and an ambulance driver. He selected them for their personalities and their ability to adapt quickly and work independently.
According to Francis, it takes about a year to adequately educate a novice in the cellar: ‘It’s normal to pass on your knowledge: there are technical gestures, getting to grips with the machinery, the correct sequence of stages etc. It’s not innate; it has to be learnt!’
Once training was complete, Francis fully trusted his teams, but always kept a watchful eye to make sure that no one got stuck. He developed a genuine instinct for this over the years: ‘I can sense it when an individual in the cellar isn’t feeling well, whether it is due to a personal or professional issue. Here, it’s imperative that we establish a mutual trust.’
Training itself, Francis believes, is a team effort. He would call on experienced staff to help train newcomers. For example, if he noticed that an individual was more comfortable with decanting, filtering or tasting, he would ask them to share their expertise. Francis was, and still is, undeniably a mentor to numerous employees. However, he is not interested in maintaining exclusivity. For him, the process is a natural one—so much so that he hasn’t hesitated for a single second to provide assistance to his team. For Francis, mentoring is a natural, ongoing cycle.
It all began with a raised hand. In 2013, the first vines at the nascent Long Dai estate were only beginning to grow. The technical management team noticed things were not going according to plan and considered offering assistance to the Chinese employees in optimising pruning.
Matthieu Pilloton volunteered, oblivious to the fact that he would be crossing the globe regularly for years to come. ‘I was unaware that Eric Kolher, the Technical Director at the time, was going to request my presence in China for an initial audit and to offer support and training on pruning.’
From 2013 to 2016, Matthieu would visit Long Dai for four consecutive years. On his first visit, however, he was lost. His primary task was to assess the situation and complete the pruning of the young vines. Most of the winegrowers employed from Mulangou hamlet were accustomed to trimming apple trees in the nearby orchards. This suggested that they were still learning. Matthieu had arrived with a pamphlet that demonstrated the characteristics of an exemplary grapevine and the methods required to achieve this standard. The pamphlet—translated into Mandarin—was filled with all the best practices, photographs, illustrations, and explanations.
‘The most challenging aspect was not the training of the employees. It was acclimating to, and respecting, each other’s methodologies.’
Initially, Matthieu spent two days observing the team leader before confronting about a dozen winegrowers. ‘The most challenging aspect was not the training of the employees. It was acclimating to, and respecting, each other’s methodologies.’ Today, in addition to overcoming the language barrier, Matthieu is getting used to the culture.
He dedicated the next three weeks to collaborating with the crews on the 11 hectares of vines, which have now expanded to 38 hectares. Time was crucial as they resumed trimming and adjusting the trellising to guide the grapevines. Matthieu returned in the spring of 2014 and saw that the teams’ trimming techniques had preserved a significant number of plants.
He continues to assist the vine growers as they learn and grow, instructing them on the evolution of pruning methods based on the age of the vines. Matthieu recognises that ‘a newly planted vine has a lifespan of 30 years. After ten years it begins to achieve the balance needed to be considered a quality wine’.
Matthieu returned in 2015 and again in 2016 to monitor the progress of the pruning work. The recurrent summer monsoons and arid winters necessitate anticipating wood shoots and determining the ideal quantity of buds to keep on the vines.
While Matthieu initially came to share his pruning expertise, he has gained much in return. ‘Their open-mindedness is remarkable; I have gained extensive knowledge from the vineyard manager and the teams at Domaine de Long Dai, who have placed their trust in me. Last year, a local resident even invited me for lunch at his house!’
All three journeys reveal a common truth: learning from, and alongside, others can be an illuminating process.
Adapting to the light.
Reflecting on the origins of Domaine de Long Dai with Olivier Trégoat.
The Bodies behind the Body
The weight-lifting phrase épaulé jeté, in English ‘clean and jerk’, or more literally in French, ‘shouldered-throw’, became immortalised in the oenological sense by the illustrator Michel Tolbert whose iconic posters for Catherine & Pierre Breton’s Bourgeiul and Chinon estate are now replicated in wine bars across the world.