Behind the vine
Clémence de Pourtales - Château Doyac - Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux
When do you think you fell in love with wine, enough to make a career of it?
To me, my choice to make a career of winemaking has always been very obvious. I have spent a lot of my life in the cellars. I grew up at Château de Malleret until I was 6 years old and then I moved to Château Doyac. I’ve always really enjoyed helping with the work in the cellars, and I’ve been doing that work since I was very young. I remember when I was about 18 years old I tasted a Château Climens 1976. I was used to tasting far younger wines, but this wine really impressed me because it was an older wine with lots of aroma and still had freshness.
What story does your wine tell?
Château Doyac is a family winery with a very friendly spirit. We make wine to share with our friends and family. My father is very well-known for his pizzas. It is a very good wine pairing!
“To me, my choice to make a career of winemaking has always been very obvious. I have spent a lot of my life in the cellars.”
- Clémence de Pourtalès
What misconceptions about wine do you think people should forget?
People should not think that Bordeaux wines should only be tasted when they are ‘old’. There are so many different wines in Bordeaux, some of them should be tasted at a certain age but there are wines like Château Doyac that can be tasted much younger, thanks to our main grape variety, Merlot.
What great things about wine do you think people should remember?
In my opinion, wine means friendliness and the desire to share great moments with friends and family.
What is a piece of advice you would give to a woman interested in breaking into the wine world?
I would advise a woman interested in breaking into the wine world to be firstly passionate about wine and then to study about wine. There are lots of possibilities now with different schools and various curriculums. I personally studied oenology at ISVV in Bordeaux and I met lots of women studying like me. We all work today in very different places either in production or marketing, and we still communicate with each other.
Who is a woman in wine you think everyone should know about?
The woman I admire a lot in winemaking is one of my friends, Alice Tétienne who is Chef de Cave for Champagne Henriot. She was elected best Chef de Cave this year. She is very talented and I learned a lot spending some time with her.
Where can women find your wine?
Women can find the Château Doyac all around the world and in France they can find it on our e-shop on our website.