Celebrating a 30-Year Collaboration and Friendship

September 27: Alain Dominique Perrin, owner of Chateau Lagrézette hosted a dinner at Le Bernardin to celebrate his 30-year collaboration with oenologist, Michel Rolland. It was an evening of  toasts between friends.

Recalls Michel, “In 1988, after a brief telephone conversation with Alain Dominique Perrin, then President of Cartier, I went to Château Lagrézette in Cahors. We drove through the vineyards in a convertible car – one that had belonged to Brigitte Bardot. That was classy! The vineyards were less so… the vigor of the vines suggested an over abundant harvest. Alain told me then: “I do not have a cellar; my wine is made at the cooperative. I would like you to oversee the production.

“This was a first for me: to consult for a private client with wines vinified in a “kolkhoz”! I quickly discovered the drawbacks of the cooperative system and immediately warned Alain that my intervention would be useless: “I can’t perform miracles!” Not being a man to take no for an answer, he told me: “I promise you a beautiful Lagrézette winery in just a few years”. The construction of a state-of-the-art gravitational cellar was completed in 1992. A rigorous selection policy was applied, and two vintages were born, Le Pigeonnier and Cuvée Dame Honneur –  which became flagships of the appellation.”