The legendary winemaker died today in Bordeaux. He was 78 years old.
Michel Rolland passed away this morning, Friday, March 20. This sad news reached all those who had come to the matinee of the Bordeaux Oenologists' Association. The cause of death is said to be a heart attack, as the newspaper Sud-Ouest newspaper reports.
Born in Libourne on December 24, 1947, Rolland founded his consulting company in 1973 and over the years has built up a worldwide reputation that has made him one of the most influential - and controversial - personalities on the international wine scene. An inseparable figure in the golden age of Robert Parker's influence on the wine world, he had brought Bordeaux-style ageing, maturation and blending techniques to every corner of the globe.
Rolland was also active in Latin America, particularly in Argentina with the "Clos de los Siete" project, and had founded the Rolland laboratory in Pomerol with his wife Danièle "Dany", from where he sent out his advice for the greatest crus of Saint-Émilion and the so-called "garage wines" of the 1990s. He also worked in Italy at the famous wineries Arnaldo Caprai, Monteverro, Biserno and Ornellaia.
Polemical, brilliant, unfiltered: Michel Rolland knew how to hit where it hurts, but he never stopped believing in Bordeaux wine. Today, the industry is losing one of its most authentic protagonists.
