New interview with Ophélie Michaud, Oenologist Technical Communications Manager of Mouton Cadet
Hello Ophélie! I'd like to start, as is tradition in Canada, with a question about the weather. How do you see the weather in Bordeaux evolving, and what impact does it have on your work?
We've seen the weather evolve over the last few years, as it has pretty much everywhere in the world. There are 7 of us Oenologists working with 150 partner winemakers for Mouton Cadet, and we talk a lot about the fact that the weather is changing and that climatic hazards are more frequent and intense than they used to be. Before, we had a similar calendar every year, so we knew what we had to do and when, but now we must adapt day-by-day. We do more monitoring in the vineyard because everything can change so quickly. Mouton Cadet is rooted throughout the Bordeaux region, which is quite vast, so we're structuring ourselves to monitor the weather more precisely, as the notion of microclimate is becoming increasingly important.
We have to deal with new situations. For example: to set the harvest date, we taste the grapes from our plots together with our winemakers, then we use our Quality Department to obtain ripeness data in figures that enable us to refine our feelings. In 2023, we had good maturity data with good sugar, acidity and tannin levels, so we could have started the harvest, but when we tasted the grapes, we couldn't taste the aromas: we hadn't yet reached aromatic maturity. That being the case, we waited and finally the aromatic maturity arrived suddenly! All our white and red grape varieties arrived almost at the same time and the harvest was by force very condensed! The different grape maturities have always evolved asynchronously, but not to this extent. We didn't have that before.
We had a whole year of rain between November and May, which has never happened before. The vineyards had to be protected early against disease, particularly mildew. The winegrowers started the year very intensely!
Climate change is here, it's a reality, so it's up to us to adapt our profession by being even more attuned to nature.
Getting back to you, can you tell us a little about your background, what led you to become an Oenologist, and if it comes from your family?
I come from a small town near Poitiers, France. My father is a musician and my mother works in the civil service, so I had no direct connection with wine! The connection was made with my paternal grandfather, who was a distiller from the Charente region, who owned a business that sold still and distilled wine to private customers. My father was passionate about wine, and when I was little and therefore too young to taste it, I was always intrigued to see the bottles on the table with the names of the properties, the years, the appellations...I ended up studying science and was fascinated by plant biology. I went to agricultural engineering school in Montpellier, where there were discovery modules on wine, and that's how I became interested in wine. It was a real turning point and I think that passion has circulated in my genes!
How did your story with Mouton Cadet begin?
When I was in my 2nd year of school, I had an opportunity to do an internship with Mouton Cadet. I worked for 4 months with the team during the harvest. From there, I wanted to do a year of internships to develop my experience in the field. I suspended my studies to make wine in different vineyards, and I also wanted to go to South America to see how things were done in the New World countries. BPHR has a vineyard in Chile, and I was able to work with the Chilean team for 4 months. I loved working for BPHR again, but in a different context: the terroirs, the grape varieties, almost everything was new to me! Then I finished my studies and when I started looking for a job, a position opened up in the Mouton Cadet Oenology team! It was just the one I'd been looking for, as it combined technical and communication skills. I was chosen and joined BPHR in 2014; to this day I'm still here!
Can you tell us about a project you've been working on that you're particularly excited about?
Yes, I'm thinking of a recent project we started during the 2021 vintage. I'm lucky enough to work for a company that listens to its consumers. Mouton Cadet is a wine that's been around since 1930, so we've regularly evolved its style and image, because our consumers' tastes have changed over time! Sometimes a young consumer can get the impression that the world of wine is complex. Mouton Cadet concentrates on the Bordeaux appellation, which makes things much simpler for our consumers, enabling us to appeal to a wider audience. In keeping with our aim of making wine accessible, we've started to produce a new range of wines, which we call the Fresh collection. We started with Mouton Cadet Rosé x Mathilde, which is available in Quebec and the rest of Canada. This wine is produced organically and is a fresh, elegant style of rosé made from Merlot, a very fruity grape variety. We also worked on the label to reflect this freshness, inspired by the ocean coast and the Arcachon Basin. We've now extended the range to include a white wine, Mouton Cadet Blanc x Nathan (hopefully available soon!), which is a Sauvignon Blanc, and we're also working on a fresh, light red wine. The fresh collection has led us to change the way we work, from vine to glass, and I've found this project very stimulating!
What makes you most proud of your work as an Oenologist and gives you a sense of accomplishment?
Many things! The world of wine is fascinating and every year is different and reshuffles the cards. We have to be agile and adaptable to always create quality wines!
I'm also proud of our work on organic conversion: 30% of Mouton Cadet's parcels are managed organically, and we only started this conversion work 5 years ago! Organic farming demands a lot more attention in the vineyard: we have to protect the vineyard as best we can, and also go back to mechanical tillage...It's a colossal task that we've managed to carry out efficiently, thanks to our strong relationship with our Mouton Cadet winemakers!
In addition to our work on deploying organic products, we have also been working on the "Fair for Life" label, as part of our fair-trade approach.
There are many things that give me a sense of accomplishment in my day-to-day work. What I also like is the feeling of belonging: we work for a family company. The 3rd generation of the family is currently at the head of the company, and we're starting to meet the next generation, which will be the 4th, with Mathilde, Nathan and Pierre signing the Fresh collection. We're in regular contact with the Family, who share their vision with us, which gives meaning to our work and is very motivating!
Thank you for sharing your passion with us, Ophélie, and enjoy your visit to Montreal!