Talk with Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal

Do you have a childhood memory that captures your bond with wine?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

It’s more of a ritual than a specific memory. As children, our father would invite us to smell the bouquet of the wines he served with Sunday lunch. By the time we were 7 or 8, he would let us wet our lips with them. These small gestures instilled a culture of wine in us from a fairly early age.

Which ritual do you like to perpetuate with wine today?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

Blind tasting, which is both fun and enlightening. Only when you taste a wine you know absolutely nothing about can you be truly objective. Blind tasting requires a certain amount of humility because you’re often proven wrong.

Since taking over the family business in 2012, you have focused on using innovation to protect the environment. How do you reconcile this with tradition?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

As we always have done – in the most natural way possible. We continue to rely on time-honoured methods which have proven their merit, whilst remaining open to innovations that bring meaningful or promising improvements. At the same time, we are deeply committed to the incredible biotope we are fortune enough to steward. Again, in the most natural way possible, we care about the land, the environment where are children are growing up and where our staff spend most of their time.

Does this automatically imply a change in the style of the wines?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

Relatively speaking, yes, but always with the intention of staying true to what defines the uniqueness and greatness of our wines. Our aim has simply been to instil a touch more freshness and tension, achieved mainly through gentler (although not necessarily lighter) extraction. We have also significantly reduced the proportion of new oak in the maturation process. The result is subtle change with wines that are slightly more precise, fresher and tighter but without compromising on their complexity or depth.

The perfect illustration of this being your recently released ‘Le Majestueux’ label… 

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

To me, this wine captures an idea of how close one can come to perfection, whilst also representing a milestone in the estate’s history. It may well be the finest wine we have ever made. Only time will tell. It shows monumental balance, intensity, precision, purity, freshness and tension. It is a true benchmark – the quintessential expression of a magnificent wine built to stand the test of time.

Are you preparing the ninth generation to take up the torch when the time comes?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

That’s still a very long way off, and therefore difficult to predict, because our eldest son is nine, our middle son is 7 and our youngest is not yet a year old. But we are gently preparing them by making the estate a natural part of their lives. So, they help with harvesting, regularly explore the winery and cellars, take an interest in the history of our family and occasionally take a tiny sip of our wines. Basically, we are creating an atmosphere that makes them interested and inquisitive so that they grow up immersed in everything that makes the estate – which they call “the bell house” – beautiful and unique.

Concurrently with this, you took over the Le Gabriel restaurant in Bordeaux and established a farm in Saint-Loubès… 

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

These projects are entirely complementary because they are part of a holistic vision which in some ways extends from the craft of fine winemaking to gastronomy and the produce that forms the basis of that gastronomy. They echo and enhance one another and together create a coherent, meaningful space where wine, food and agriculture speak the same language.

What does a wine cellar represent for you?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

We have quite a nice wine cellar that we have built up over the years, firstly with wines that my father and my father-in-law gifted us, then with wines that we have bought or exchanged with winegrower friends. The cellar is constantly being stocked and we are mindful that new additions always outweigh the number of bottles we take out. We are shaping the cellar with two purposes in mind: to enjoy and share remarkable wines with our loved ones, but also – or perhaps especially – with an eye on the future, so that one day our children and their children can enjoy fine wines at their peak with a thought for us. This impressive cellar undeniably carries with it a spirit of transmission, sharing and interaction – and of course pleasure.

Not all the wines are from Bordeaux then… 

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

The cellar has a lot of variety. Obviously top Bordeaux features prominently but there are also a lot of wines from Champagne, Burgundy, the Loire, Rhone, Provence and Languedoc, alongside Spain, Italy, Austria and Germany, California, Oregon, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. Basically, there are wines from virtually everywhere wine is produced, including Georgia, the cradle of winegrowing where the Saperavi grape variety produces wines that can be absolutely exquisite. There’s also Japan with some incredibly delicious Chardonnay.

Are you more of a collector, an inquisitive enthusiast or a hedonist?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

I’m definitely a combination of all three, it really depends on the occasion. We mainly select age-worthy wines that will keep for several decades. We choose all sorts of wines, including those that are not on our list of favourites but which we know are inherently great wines that our children may enjoy. Across the cellar, I would say we probably have 20 to 25% of wines that are now ready to drink and 75 to 80% of wines that are ageing, most of which won’t be opened for at least a decade.

Which wine in your cellar are you looking forward to uncorking?

STÉPHANIE DE BOÜARD-RIVOAL

There are a lot of wines in our cellar that we are looking forward to opening. But if I had to choose just five, I would say: 1961 Château Angelus; 1983 Château Margaux; 1988 Clos du Mesnil; 1996 Clos La Néore; and 2008 Romanée-Conti, the vintage we got married which we will probably open in 2028. Saying that, for more instant gratification, I am very much looking forward to opening an Imperial of 1997 Angelus – the year my husband and I met – which we intend to share at the christening of our youngest child.