Philippe Dhalluin, the managing director of Mouton Rothschild.

Winemaker Philippe Dhalluin, who is the managing director and winemaker across Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A.’s six celebrated estates, has probably made more perfectly rated wines than any other person of his generation from the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and 2013 Opus in Napa Valley to Almaviva 2015 and 2017 in Chile.

When asked about these incredible wines, the 62-year-old simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “I make the best wines possible as a winemaker.”

It’s this combination of modesty and talent that makes Dhalluin one of the greatest winemakers of our time and the JamesSuckling.com Winemaker of the Decade. He makes the wines of six celebrated estates: Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Clerc Milon, Château d’Armailhac, Domaine de Baronarques in France, as well as Almaviva in Chile and Opus One in Napa Valley. He also contributes to winemaking at Chile’s Escudo Rojo as well as Bordeaux’s Sauternes estates of Cháteau Coutet.

Despite his far-reaching influence at prestigious estates around the world, Dhalluin is often described as a humble, down-to-earth winemaker who does not shy away from innovation in order to produce consistent and complex blends. It’s this deep passion for what’s in your glass that inspired him to enter the industry in the first place.

Early years

Born in 1957 in Valenciennes, in northern France, Dhalluin moved with his family to Bordeaux when he was 16 years old. His parents had already instilled an appreciation for wine in the young man, but a bottle of Châteauneuf du Pape 1970, gifted to his parents from a family friend, is what tipped the scales.

“At the time, I was most familiar with Bordeaux wines, along with a few Burgundies,” Dhalluin tells James Suckling. “When I drank Châteauneuf du Pape, I had a revelation, an epiphany. It was an exceptional wine, so different from anything I had tasted until then, and above all so extraordinarily explosive that even now it seems like I can remember each mouthful! I have never had such an experience again, and what’s worse is that no-one can remember who made it…”

His passion for wine ignited, Dhalluin went on to study the science of wine at Bordeaux University’s Faculty of Enology. After graduating in 1982, he accepted a job in Peru, driven by an innate curiosity about the relatively less-established region. He cut his teeth at Tacama Winery, one of the oldest vineyards in South America, where he absorbed everything he could about new cultures in winemaking, especially outside of Bordeaux.

Armed with managerial experience and unique insights, Dhalluin returned to Bordeaux in 1985 where he worked closely with esteemed French winemaker Emile Peynaud at Château Beaumont for three years. (It was here incidentally where he met James Suckling, an aspiring wine journalist with America’s Wine Spectator magazine.) He then moved to Château Branaire-Ducru from 1988 to 2003, where he “put the estate back on the map,” according to the late owner Patrick Maroteaux.

Recruited by Rothschild 

That year, 2003, would mark another landmark moment for Dhalluin, who was quickly garnering a reputation for precision, passion and dynamism within the region. In 2003, the late Baroness Philippine de Rothschild recruited Dhalluin to be the managing director across the Rothschild’s various chateaux. The prestigious new position at a first-growth estate not only elevated Dhalluin’s career, but also proved to be highly beneficial for the Rothschilds as well.

Chateau Mouton Rothschild had everything to produce exceptional wines: old vines, a particularly gravelly terroir and a small army of industry veterans on staff. Sister estates Clerc Milon and Château d’Armailhac, too, were home to magnificent vines and natural terrain.

However, Dhalluin saw an opportunity to innovate the winemaking processes. The far-sighted winemaker embarked on an ambitious restoration project that upgraded nearly every component of the viniculture facilities. They replanted all of the vines, completely rebuilt Clerc Milon, renovated the warehouses at Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and introduced a gravity-flow vat room for a gentler touch.

Amongst the most influential changes, Dhalluin insisted on the implementation of smaller tanks – 44 smaller tanks, instead of the original 28 – in the vat room. For the most precise blends and rigorous selection, the winemaker wanted to assess and individually ferment micro-parcels to achieve greater consistency, finesse and opulence. This was the future – ever greater precision and analysis – and he set about making it happen.

“We have seen the improvement in quality, quite simply because our selection can be more precise,” says Dhalluin. “Let me give you an example: In parcels of very old vines, young vines have to be planted each year to replace the old vines that have disappeared. With small vats, we can vinify the grapes produced by the young vines separately from those produced by the older vines. That means we can concentrate all the quality of the oldest vines in one vat. The difference is very clear: although the wine from the youngest vines is very good, the quality of the wine from the old vines from the same parcel is spectacular.”

While his expansive refurbishment plans were underway, Dhalluin turned an international spotlight on Chateau Mouton Rothschild in 2006, when he unveiled what many critics called the ‘wine of the vintage.’ Anchored by the power of cabernet sauvignon, the intense cab-merlot blend sports notes of toasted hazelnut, rich tannins and has a supremely velvety finish. He followed in 2009 and 2010 with impressive grand vins that once again captivated the wine world. These wines have been more nuanced and dynamic since Dhalluin came to the helm – they’ve also been less oaky. When he joined Mouton, the winemaker chose to pare back the toasting of the estate’s oak barrels in order to let the terroir shine through. And he kept that same spirit in more recent years such as 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

“When I became fully responsible for the vinification of Mouton Rothschild with my team in 2004, I wanted to reduce the barrel toast because I found that it made too much of a mark,” says Dhalluin.

“I thought it a shame that such a great wine, so naturally aromatic and expressive, should have such dominant toasted aromas. For me, it’s a matter of balancing the aromas and flavors. As the terroir already gives Mouton that character in its grapes, I thought it wiser to redress the balance and let its natural flavors speak for themselves.”

International interests

Dhalluin’s innovative approach to winemaking has not been confined to Bordeaux. Opus One in Napa Valley – a joint venture at the time between Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild – is also part of Dhalluin’s domain as the company’s wine director. Visiting the 140-acre estate roughly four times a year, Dhalluin works closely with head winemaker Michael Silacci on new processes – such as organic and biodynamic cultivation – to perfect the final blends.

“My greatest pleasure is to lead my people, in the vineyard and in the winery, so that together we can reveal the genie hidden in our terroir and concealed, at harvest time, in our grapes. A bit like Aladdin… It’s more of a hobby than a job. And we always hope that the wine-lovers who open these bottles will find there all the passion we have put into them.”

He also visits Almaviva in Puente Alto, Chile, regularly to work with head winemaker Michel Friou. As in Napa Valley, Dhalluin has been influential on big-picture initiatives – such as a recent replanting program – as well as finessing the annual vintages. The storied Valle de Maipo estate – a joint venture between Château Mouton Rothschild and Concha y Toro since 1997 – produces world-class wines, and its 2015 wine is a powerful yet fresh cabernet blend that scored a perfect 100 points and was named the JamesSuckling.com Wine of the Year 2017. And Almaviva was awarded a perfect score again with the 2017 last year.

“The most difficult thing in winemaking is to achieve that perfect balance which will both express all the particular character of the terroir and ensure that the wine ages perfectly. So my work is a constant quest for balance between richness, freshness, density and charm,” he adds. “It starts in the vineyard: I have the good fortune to work with very great terroirs, both in Pauillac and in Languedoc with our Domaine de Baronarques, as well as with exceptional people, whether in France or California or Chile. Pure pleasure!”

As Dhalluin himself says, his job is to manage various estates, but it’s the wine in the glass that is his passion, and that’s also what makes him our Winemaker of the Decade.

Also read: Almaviva 2017 – Wine of the Decade

Also read: Masseto – Winery of the Decade

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