When a long-time friend of mine died of cancer in March, Château Margaux’s Paul Pontallier, it got me to thinking how much the wine world has changed in the three decades or so since I started out as a wine critic. The death of the famous Bordeaux first growth’s managing director reminded me of just how important winemakers are to the great wines we drink today. It wasn’t always like that. In fact, the most important figure for most wineries until the 1980s was the owner. Until then, most winemakers were simply cellar masters or technicians and had no formal training or education in oenology.
Please click on the image below to view the original column appeared in Hong Kong Tatler’s July issue.
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