Cast of Characters:
Yvonne Hegoburu
“I planted vines when my husband died. Ever since then, all this love inside me, I give it to the vines. I talk to them. I have an exchange with them.”
Yvonne planted vines in 1986, after the death of her journalist husband, on a site where vines had been planted from the 16th century. But in 1940, the vines began to die, when the men went off to war, to Germany or into the Resistance. The slopes were too steep for even young women to cultivate. Yvonne, now 77, tends the vines herself. She grows the grapes according to the principles of “Biodynamie,” which exclude the use of chemicals, pesticides or herbicides.
Battista Columbu
“We mustn’t be distracted by the phantoms of progress, which can destroy us and destroy nature, and bring suffering to others. Here in Sardinia, we have a millennial culture. We ought to live in tranquility on this earth. And there’s room for others.”
Because the family domain is too small to support even one person, Battista Columbu pursued a career in politics as a member of Italy’s Sardinian Party. He’s the only local politician who ended his career with a house that’s the same size as it was when he started.
Aime Guibert
“Let’s be clear, wine is dead. And not just wine. Fruits. Cheese. Wine is an almost religious relationship between man and the natural elements, with the immaterial. It takes a poet to make a great wine.”
Michel Rolland
Considered the world’s leading wine consultant, Rolland is the most influential and highest-priced. He is technical advisor through his Pomerol laboratory for over 400 domains in Bordeaux. He consults in 12 countries, including the U.S. for Robert Mondavi, Staglin Vineyard, and Argentina for the Etchart family. He is also the oenologist for Bernard Magrez’s properties in Bordeaux, Morocco, Algeria, and Portugal; he is the first person in India to make wine.
Aime Guibert (France)
Guibert established the domain Daumas-Gassac in 1979 in Aniane, a village of 2,400 inhabitants, when Bordeaux oenologist Henri Enjalembert discovered he had a singular terroir. Guibert is considered the pioneer of the renaissance of quality winemaking in Languedoc.
Robert Mondavi Winery (Napa, California)
Mondavi, son of an impoverished Italian immigrant, founded the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966, and built it into a huge business. The Mondavis produce over 100 million bottles worldwide from Napa to Chile to Australia to Tuscany. His sons Michael and Tim inherited the business in the1990s, and took the company public in 1993. Recently, at the request of the board, the family stepped down from running the company.
Michael Mondavi
“We want to start a dynasty. Ten generations from now, it would be great to see our heirs making wine on some other planets: Beam me up, Scotty, send me some wine from Mars or something.”
Staglin Family Vineyard (Napa, California)
After serving as an officer in Vietnam, Garen Staglin was appointed to the modeling committee under Henry Kissinger during the SALT talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He subsequently founded several Silicon Valley software companies, and purchased his Napa Valley vineyards in 1985.
Groupe Boisset (Burgundy, France)
Founded in 1961 by 18-year-old Jean-Claude Boisset, the Boisset Group has grown into the number one company in Burgundy in sales, and the third biggest in France. Boisset’s son, Jean-Charles, is now at the helm, extending its stake in international ventures in the U.S., Japan, and Canada.
Neal Rosenthal, Importer, Rosenthal Wine (New York)
“In Bordeaux, the terroir is there, but theyre destroying it. Just as our freedoms are being suppressed here, in the U.S. People say: let’s be patriotic therefore let’s give up our freedoms. Let’s not debate anything anymore. Let’s just accept.’ There’s a battle between resistance and collaboration. It’s not between modernity and tradition because you can be modern while respecting tradition.”
Neal Rosenthal began as a retailer with a small wine shop in Manhattan in the 1970s, near his father’s pharmacy. He gradually began to import the wines himself, representing winemakers from France and Italy much the way a film producer works with a filmmaker. He has established himself as one of the leading American importers of European wines of terroir.
Robert Parker, Wine Critic (Monokton, Maryland)
“I always say about myself; if there’s a legacy for Robert Parker, it’s that he leveled the playing field. In this stratified caste system of wine, dominated by elitists and reactionaries, Parker brought an American, democratic point of view.”
After practicing law for 10 years, Parker turned to wine criticism, publishing the Wine
Advocate, in 1978. He and his magazine were launched to international fame after his precociously favorable reviews of the unusually ripe 1982 vintage in Bordeaux. Since then, Parker has become the world’s most influential wine critic, determining with his ratings the price of wine in most of the world’s regions, including the multi-billion-dollar a year bordeaux trade.
