A WALK IN THE
CLOUDS WITH
ThibautDelmotte
When Thibaut Delmotte first arrived
in Argentina in 2004, well, “it wasn’t
for the wine,” he quickly says. “I had
never had any Argentine wine. For me,
it was all about French wines.” This,
of course, is not surprising. Delmotte
grew up in Burgundy, France. And
while his family was not in the wine
business, “there was always a bottle
of wine on the family table for
every meal,” he adds. However,
growing up, winemaking was
not on the table. “In my family
I am the first one doing wine.”
And winemaking was not even
on the table for Delmotte as a
child. “I was always fascinated
by documentaries about wildlife
around the world. I was thinking
I would be a video cameraman
for Animal Planet or National
Geographic or something like
that.”
Somewhere the idea of filming
wildlife faded and the desire
to learn about wine grew and
Delmotte headed to Beaune,
Burgundy for his studies. One
thing he learned quickly was
how different the real world was
from school. “Learning at school
and actually doing it are two
very different things,” he says,
“my best school is the experience I
have in every winery I worked at and
with every different vintage I have
done.” Added up, it’s more than
twenty years. “My first vintage was
1998. It was in Santenay, Burgundy,
mostly Pinot Noir. I also worked in
Chablis, Burgundy with Chardonnay
and I spent several years working in
18
Bordeaux: Fronsac and Lalande de
Pomerol with Merlot, Pessac Leognan
with Cabernet Sauvignon and Medoc
with the 5 typical varietals (Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Petit Verdot and Malbec). Both of
these regions gave me great experience
for my future. Burgundy showed me
that the most important thing is not
winemaking, but the vineyard: the
terroir. Since then I try to respect
the terroir with human intervention
possible during the elaboration.
In Bordeaux, Médoc in particular, I
learn about blending. A new aspect for
me, not only the terroir but also the
influence of each variety in a blend. ”
BY LISA GMUR, CSW
So what was Delmotte doing in
Argentina 15 years ago? “I came to
Argentina as a tourist and I traveled for
one year all around the country.” And
one place really resonated with him;
Salta. “I really like Salta so I stayed a
couple of months in this region. The
food, the quality of life and the people
are great here. And when I heard that
there were a project of vineyard at
more than 2300 meters (7500 feet) I
said no way! I have to know this place.
That’s how I met mister Donald
Hess. We had good feeling and he
asked me to be his winemaker for at
least 3 years…that was 14 years ago!”
There is actually a little more to the
story. “My interview with Mister
Hess was a blind tasting in 2004. 10
wines that I have to taste with him,
the winemaker at the time, vineyard
manager…We have to taste first and
after give our ranking for each wine.
I did very well for most of the tasting,
but the one I put last, the one I like
less, everybody around the table put it
first! Mr Hess ask me why I didn’t like
it, and I knew that I was in trouble,
but I tell him the true: I felt the wine
too ripe, too alcoholic, too oaky…Of
course it was the iconic wine of the
winery at the time: Colome Reserva! I
thought: that’s it! I lost the job. But Mr
Hess ask me about another wine: my
favorite, why did I like it. Because I feel
it balance, easy to drink and elegant: it
was Colome Estate! It saved me! And
Mr Hess likes my point of view about
the Estate: making pleasure wine that
you can enjoy several glass. That’s why
he decide to hire me.”
THE MARK WINE NEWS