FRANÇOIS POINCET TASTING NOTES “We’re trying to find a new way of interacting with consumers.” – Jean-Sebastien Philippe, international director, DBR Lafite 72 NetJets
DRIVING FORCE Jean-Sebastien Philippe is one of the innovative team bringing a new dynamism to the hallowed cellars of Château Lafite Rothschild. to small single-figure acreage at most Burgundy domaines). But then Saskia de Rothschild is not scared of a challenge. A graduate of HEC Paris and Columbia University, she carved out a successful career as an investigative journalist for the New York Times International Edition in the U.S., Africa, and Europe, where her assignments included a month spent interviewing inmates at the notorious La MACA prison at Abidjan, in Côte d’Ivoire; following the first female U.S. Marines on Afghanistan’s front line; and being embedded with sheep farmers taking on the mining industry in Greenland. This is not a woman afraid to get her hands dirty. “It was a great time, covering elections and other events in the area,” she said of her time in West Africa. When it became clear that she was favored over her two brothers and other contenders from the six branches of the family who are shareholders in Lafite, she returned to France to study viticulture and winemaking, and committed herself to the land where, as a young girl, she had picked grapes and tasted blends with her father. “I knew the place. I loved the place. And I felt I could protect it for years to come,” she said at the time. The conversion of the vineyard to organic and, ultimately, biodynamic farming is a wholesale undertaking. “It’s not a case of being organic for the sake of being organic, but going further via agroecology and agroforestry,” says Philippe. So while many Bordeaux estates are bolting on vineyards through the somewhat controversial purchasing of land from neighboring (but not necessarily classified) estates, Lafite has been pulling out acres of vineyards and replanting them with trees. “The trees were cut in the 1970s and ’80s so it was time to replant them to reproduce corridors of vegetation and wildlife,” says Philippe. The 494 acres of marsh fields at Lafite that sit alongside the vineyards are now home to herds of wild cows. “There is a lot of thinking and beliefs about biodynamism, but we wanted hard facts,” says Philippe. “We already have five years of data, and we need to do five more years’ study to go deep into understanding what biodynamics bring to the vineyard, good or bad. The electro-connectivity of soil, minerality of soil, genetic studies of soil, rootstock, leaves, etc.” The move is, he says, “very much linked to Saskia’s belief,” but is “something that we are embracing and that everyone is following, right across the château.” The transition, adds Philippe, has required “full commitment” from all involved. “We can’t force our viticulturalists to do something, so it needed us to fully explain and convince workers who have been here for generations that this is the way forward.” It is still too early to say how the move will impact the style of the wine in the bottle, but analysis by plot, grape variety, and terroir via blind tastings has shown “neither a drop nor a rise in quality”, says Philippe. So, given that the process is significantly more expensive and labor-intensive, leading to a drop in yields due to a less interventionist approach, but requiring more manpower to prepare and spread biodynamic concoctions in the vineyard, why bother? “Well, fortunately, we can afford it,” says Philippe. “But first and foremost, it’s about the health of the vineyard and the people working there for us. And then we cannot ignore the fact that there is a strong tendency these days—and this affects everything that we do—for people to be more conscious of the behaviour and approach of brands they consume.” There is also, says Philippe, the social impact. “We do a lot of things at Lafite that go beyond viticulture—so how can we create an ecosystem where we can help people who are in difficult situations to re-find a purpose in life and reintegrate themselves into society?” The answer has been through a program that sees refugees from parts of Africa and the Middle East recruited to be retrained and integrated into the Lafite vineyard team. “We welcome around 10-20 every year, and try to provide them with a new job and a path for the future,” says Philippe. The property also has a foundation aimed at “being socially respectful in our local networks, in Pauillac [the commune where Lafite is based] and Bordeaux, by redistributing some of the wealth we accrue to the right causes.” It’s all part of a mission, as Philippe says, to establish a more emotional connection with consumers. “My first impression when I came to Lafite was that we have a fantastic distribution network via the négociant system, but conversely, it was creating a distance from consumers. So we’re trying to find a new way of interacting with consumers, and moving away from big wine dinners where all the trade comes together and tells you how good their wine is, which can be quite boring.” Last year, Saskia de Rothschild added the title of CEO to her responsibilities, after the resignation of former incumbent Jean-Guillaume Prats, whose team now reports directly to de Rothschild. It completed her assumption of total control of the estate, where, in another break from tradition, she now lives with her family, including her two young daughters. De Rothschild’s father used to split his time between Pauillac and Paris; indeed, Saskia is the first member of the family to live at the estate since it was bought by Baron James de Rothschild in 1868. “She decided to live at the château and be here every day, to show her commitment,” says Philippe. That commitment, it seems, is total. lafite.com © CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD NetJets 73
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