What three words would you choose to describe the wine of Romanée-Conti? If you’ve never had the opportunity to taste this iconic wine, expressions of chagrin such as ‘far too expensive’ or ‘not my league’ might come to mind. When I posed this question to Aubert de Villaine, longtime co-owner and co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, at the end of an hour-long interview in August, he seemed taken aback.
‘Three words?’
I nodded and waited. What descriptors would he come up with to capture the essence of the wine? Velvety? Elegant? Or something more precise, to express a specific aroma?
At last he replied: ‘Toucher l'éternel. You can touch the eternal. I listened recently to a quintet by Bruckner, an adagio, and you had the impression of reaching the eternal. With Romanée-Conti, if you taste very carefully and with time, you have this impression that you are not far from experiencing something eternal.’
After 50 years at the helm of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Aubert de Villaine is preparing for retirement. By all accounts, he has made wines that soar to untold heights and linger in the memory longer than most. There has been much written on his adult life and accomplishments, so I decided to ask about his childhood in order to learn about the formation of his character.
The oldest of six children, Aubert was born in Rennes in August 1939, a month before his father went to war and was taken prisoner. Henri de Villaine spent the next four years in a stalag in Germany, before returning home in 1943.
‘I remember the day of his return,’ Aubert reflected. ‘He was really more of a man than a father because I had never known him. I had been told about him. Everyone was so happy that day when he arrived by train. I remember this very, very thin man in an old soldier’s uniform. They were kept in the same clothes for so long. It is funny because in my memory it is the happiest memory I can have, of those early days, but my mother told me that after my father had been back for two weeks I asked her, “maman, is this gentleman going to stay much longer?” I guess I was jealous. But I have no memory of this.’
His father rarely spoke about his wartime experiences. ‘I think all the people who were prisoners like this were not proud of this time. I never met friends whose fathers had the same experience and said that their fathers were talking about it. But I remember he said that when they arrived at the camp after many days of walking in France and Germany the officer who was heading the camp told them: “Messieurs, there is one thing I have to tell you. Here the life of a man doesn’t count much.” But he survived, with many others.’
Aubert’s first wine memory is of a family dinner held when he was six or seven years old. He recalled hearing that they would drink ‘something very special, coming from a very special place, described as secret and to be admired’. It was the wine from the domaine. ‘My cousin and I couldn’t wait until the people were finished dinner so that we could finish some glasses that had been left.’
Does he remember how the leftover wine tasted?
‘I remember it gave us some pleasure. We were all excited, but nothing more than that. And I must say that until I was 24 or 25 wine was present in my life because of my family but I was not especially interested.’
He recalled summer visits to his maternal grandparents in Guildford, England, where they had lived since arriving as refugees from Russia in 1918, and he spoke glowingly of his parents.
‘My father worked a lot to feed his family and my mother was totally devoted to doing all of the work around six children. She had a little help, but not much, so they were really wonderful people.’
What traits does he think he has inherited from his parents?
‘This is for other people to say. It is difficult to speak about oneself. But I think – I hope – my father gave me his real humility. He was very proud of the domaine but he was really somebody with a basic humility and I think I share this. It is in my nature. From my mother,’ he smiled, ‘I think I got good health’.
This bodes well, since his mother lived to be 103. Aside from trouble with one eye that has been operated on four times and a recent hand injury that has hampered his ability to fly-fish, he looks the picture of health and strength, His erect posture, piercing gaze and steady, measured way of speaking make it easy to forget he is 82.
We spoke briefly of his time in California in the mid-1960s, when he wrote two articles on American wine for La Revue du Vin de France. ‘When I read them today,’ he sighed, ‘I feel quite ashamed’. However, he also met an enthusiastic Robert Mondavi who was dreaming of launching his own winery and it was in California that Aubert ‘developed the interest in wine that became very quickly a passion’. He then wrote to his father to ask permission to return to the domaine, which he received. His wife is American and he has been involved with a family wine project in Carneros, California, so I was keen to hear his views on culture.
What can the Americans and the French learn from each other?
‘The present French culture has been eaten by American culture,’ he replied without hesitation. ‘I say eaten, it’s a word and a pity because |
Reaching the Eternal – an interview with Aubert de Villaine
Related Blog Posts
View all-
‘Mentor Week doesn’t end when you go home – it stays with you’
Jane Anson’s ‘Bordeaux bootcamp’ has become a fixture in the Bordeaux calendar, and it’s only in its third year
‘Mentor Week doesn’t end when you go home – it stays with you’
Jane Anson’s ‘Bordeaux bootcamp’ has become a fixture in the Bordeaux calendar, and it’s only in its third year
-
A conversation with: Sarah Jane Evans MW, a wine communicator and writer
Sarah Jane Evans MW is a wine communicator and writer. She is co-chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards, a contributing editor for Decanter magazine and chair of Spain’s Gran...
A conversation with: Sarah Jane Evans MW, a wine communicator and writer
Sarah Jane Evans MW is a wine communicator and writer. She is co-chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards, a contributing editor for Decanter magazine and chair of Spain’s Gran...
-
Pink void – how did rosés get so pale?
As rosés get lighter and lighter, Henry Jeffreys asks why the colour of wine is so important
Pink void – how did rosés get so pale?
As rosés get lighter and lighter, Henry Jeffreys asks why the colour of wine is so important