Pierre Lurton
The name Lurton is well known in Bordeaux.
Many castles, a family totally dedicated to wine.
I needed to... How can I put this? Make my own name.
I was lucky to work at Clos Fourtet with my family, and it's a wonderful place.
And I am also a great admirer of the rural region.
I was lucky to get into Cheval Blanc and Château D'Yquem
and of being able to continue my experience in an exotic way
in Argentina and South Africa.
In truth, I am a boy who was naturally blessed,
who was very lucky, but who is very humble about all of this.
Currently, I am the head of Château Cheval Blanc for the past 25 years
and of Château D'Yquem for the past 12 years.
My activity is like that of a maestro in an orchestra.
I have a team of absolutely formidable people
with whom I make the best possible premier cru classé.
My role is sticking to tradition,
maintaining the quality and excellence of this great wine.
I am a part of the history of Cheval Blanc and D'Yquem
and I try to show this adventure as best as I can to the next people.
Yes, effectively I do also have a somewhat exotic experience.
I found Argentina 12 years ago, the Malbec,
this grape that we knew well in Bordeaux, that we lost phylloxera
And here I make a wine called Cheval des Andes.
The objective here isn't to make wine like a Bordeaux, but to make an elegant, fruity wine,
to make a great wine... How can I say it?
A great Argentinian wine.
I also did consulting in South Africa, in Morgenster,
a very beautiful property.
And I think this exotic outside look
is extremely interesting and it allows me to have a wide eye view
in terms of how I see Cheval Blanc and D'Yquem.
And I also have an owners activity.
I have my own land, my own château, Château Marjosse,
so we could say that I live in the sky, with the stars,
stars, that I have my Cheval Blanc day and night, and then I come back down to Earth,
go home to Entre-deux- Mers where I make my wine.
Anyway, I have a very good, balanced life.
I think that the property I manage
must stick to the elegance of gesture, of tradition.
But I also think that we can't get accommodated in this system
because there is an evolution
of tendencies, an evolution of audience, an evolution of consumers.
And I think we can translate some modern outlooks.
For instance, the Cheval Blanc.
Cheval Blanc needed a new reading,
and that was given by the architect Christian of Portzamparc.
The design is very contemporary, and this brings an outlook focused on the future.
And afterwards we realized that the interior of the house maintains the same tradition,
the same gestures of 100, 200 years ago..
The history ofarchitecture prolongs itself up to the modern side
and inside that space, we have tradition.
Anyway, all of that translates the great atemporality of the Cheval Blanc wine.
And I think that's the way it is, you have to be innovative, you have to advance,
but you can't change the recipe of gastronomy.
You're not supposed to change the way things flow.
We have to keep this rare patrimony, on an exceptional terroir such as this.
And I believe we don't have to betray the style. We don't have to betray
a elegância de um vinho como esse.
the elegance of a wine such as this. It can be elegant, but it has to keep a certain modern outlook.
The role of memory is fantastic.
The memory of a wine is also its temporal registry
and I think through the old millésimes,
we can retrace the memory of a cru.
And we can retrace its history, knowing that there are many positive periods,
but also many negative ones.
But that's the way it is, history… History is fundamental,
it is something that must truly be known because
everything you build, all the gestures of old producers,
everything that has been transmitted is important.
I see, for instance, the demonstration that Yquem must make on its history.
Yquem must keep the memory of its past
because when you try the millésime D'Yquem wine
you notice that is was once very, very, very well known by the ecosystem it was in,
there were many gestures, and much culture that you now find in my generation.
We have our modern enology, we have more precision in our ways of working,
we work on the wine's freshness, I'd say we work on the gesture.
But my generation must not forget our elders'
wineculture in which every gesture was necessary.
My generation must not forget our forefathers' winefication gestures,
because they were very much in service of the wines.
Anyway, the history, the memory of a château is something fundamental to build the future.
In truth, I was lucky to have had an education through wine,
through a family that has 25 châteaux, 12030 hectares in Bordeaux.
It is big, the Lurton family!
And because I am a Lurton I have had these unbelievable experiences, learning a certain tradition.
But when I arrived in Yquem and Cheval Blanc I didn't forget my family,
I didn't forget my genetics.
However, I arrived to a new world, to an absolutely unbelievable world,
with very rare castles that are exceptional, where equilibrium is perfect.
Where effectively you don't have to change anything about the harmony of it all.
And my Lurton experience allowed me to comprehend
and to work in this absolutely exceptional cru.
So, really, education is something fundamental,
and I think that what is important to be successful in a Premier Cru Classe
is to have great humility, to know that the cru is exceptional,
but not ourselves necessarily.
We must keep our feet on the ground, so we can have the merit
to drive more precisely and be in the service of this great terroir.
The Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux is a traditional grape.
For years, the old Cabernet Franc was called Le Bouchet B-O- U-C- H-E- T.
The most atypical cru in Bordeaux next to the Cabernet Franc was the Cheval Blanc
and it is what gives the Cheval Blanc a style, a finesse, a very particular elegance.
It is a grape of intermediate maturity between the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon.
It's a grape that guarantees a spicy side, smoked, similar to blackcurrant.
It's a grape that in the Cheval Blanc, allows the Merlot to travel in time.
He brings a fresh side, a minty side, that's what brings an elegant structure.
The Cabernet Franc remains a great grape.
It needs to be well selected, and it's variety and plant quality,
like the Cheval Blanc's, must obey an old genetic patrimony we conserve.
So, the Cabernet Franc will behave with perfect maturity.
The new Cabernet Franc are always a little compact.
Eles não chegam à maturidade.
They don't reach full maturity. Lastly, the material and plant quality os essential for the Cabernet Franc.
Cheval Blanc is a pure demonstration of one of the best wines in the world
that was built on the back of the great grape that is the Cabernet Franc.
The Cabernet Franc invites the Merlot for a long trip. It`s a really finished Cheval Blanc.
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