Behind the vine

Daisy Sichel - Chateau Angludet - Margaux, Bordeaux, France

When do you think you fell in love with wine, enough to make a career of it?

I've been around wine since I was little. My father and uncles would talk about wine at all of our big family dinners (Christmas, birthdays, celebration). One of my family's favorite things to do at these dinners is to blind taste wines from our cellar. Everyone argues about the wine, which wine it could be, what year it's from. It's really fun when the label is revealed and you discover what the wine actually is because that's when the stories come out. We talk about the story of the wine, the property, the story of the vintage and everything and everyone that is related to the wine. So, I think in the beginning, it wasn't the product of wine that attracted me (I was also too little to be able to understand/like wine!) but it was the stories that I loved.

I realized that in order to appreciate wine fully, you have to understand everything that goes around it. So, I went in the direction of working for my family business. If I had to pick one of the first moments I understood wine, though, it was drinking a bottle of Chateau Angludet 1989. I was in the middle of my studies in business wine spirits and had learned about winemaking techniques, tastings, vinification, but I had never had a definitive impression of understanding a wine. I tasted the 1989 and it was the first moment when I understood the saying, 'It's so good that it breaks your heart'. It's an amazing feeling to receive that from a wine. That was 5 or 6 years ago.

What story does your wine tell?

There are a lot of answers to that question!

Of course, it's a story of the Chateau. The Chateau has been around since the 12th century and the vineyard has existed since the 17th century. So our wine is a story of our history and the history of our terroir. We have gravel croupe which gives us so much quality. I think what we're trying to do is take the natural quality and balance of our nature, terroir and put it into our bottle.

It's also a story of Margaux. There's an elegance and finesse naturally in the Margaux soil, so Margaux wines will always be more elegant than powerful - this is what we want. The big pop star is the terroir in the vineyards, and we say in French, the vine is a 'she' and I don't think that's a mistake. People describe Margaux wines as a 'big personality woman'. It gives so much, but it's also complex. You have to deal with it, and if you understand it and try to work it the best way possible, this is when you have a wonderful wine. The soil is giving us all of this natural finesse and elegance, all of these female qualities. Biodynamics is one of our philosophical notions. We don't stop at just biodynamic treatments, we work a lot of on the biodiversity. I think to work in the more natural way, all this terroir expression will be a bit more important in the final wine.

Finally, it is a story of my family. It's a story of women, but also a story of men. It's the story of my grandmother who worked her entire life to bring Angludet back to life, even after my grandfather was no longer around and the story of my uncle who is dedicated to the vineyard. Angludet is the story of a family that are all working together to make sure they produce the best wine possible. We're happy and very proud of it, and the whole family is happy to present it, because it's us.

What misconceptions about wine do you think people should forget?

For me, I think there are two big mistakes that people make with wine:

One is being very strict about food and wine pairing. A lot of people think red wine should only go with red meat, but that's not true. Red wine can go with fish, chicken, cheese or even dessert. For example, if you take a warm vintage with some sweetness, it will match extremely well with dessert. We always need to open our minds to try new things.

The second is that some people think they should drink old wines, but if you don't like older wines or you're not used to drinking old wines, don't do it. Old wines need to be prepared, and that can be annoying to some people. Sometimes I think about a wine I want to open, but because I can't decant it in time or bring it up to room temperature in time, I can't do it. To ensure a wine will be at its best you need to prepare it. It's like a person, if you want to have the entire experience of this person, you need to take time to understand them. If you're unsure about a wine or how to prepare or drink it you can always send an email to the Chateau. I'm so happy when I get an email about how to prepare wines because I can share my knowledge and ensure the wine is being drunk at its optimal moment.

What great things about wine do you think people should remember?

The story. You can't appreciate or understand wine just by reading about it or blindly following advice about certain years being good and certain years being bad. All wines have different personalities and different occasions to be drunk in. You just need to understand the wine's story. If you know the people, the property, the soil, how the winemakers work - you will know that even during a complicated vintage or changing climactic conditions the winemaker does everything possible to ensure the wine is still good. With wine, nothing has a bad vintage, it may just need a different occasion.

What is a piece of advice you would give to a woman interested in breaking into the wine world?

I would tell her to keep going because wine is a wonderful world. I'd also tell her to go beyond reading books about wine because it's always different to experience it. Winemaking is a love story. The vine and the people who care for it are in a partnership - you have to be careful, patient, tolerant and remain there for the amazing times and the complicated times. Working in wine can be hard but it's wonderful because it's all worth it to be with the wine. There are so many things you can do in this industry - you can take care of the vineyard, make the wine, talk about and sell the wine. There are plenty of paths for your passion.

Who is a woman that inspired you?

I would say my mother and grandmother and all of the women who are taking care of the vineyards here at Chateau Angludet. My mother is our Chateau's acting biologist. She takes care of the garden and she is very interested in our natural ecosystem and keeping it balanced. My grandmother is the matriarch of Chateau Angludet. She and my grandfather bought the property and had to rebuild it from scratch after it had been abandoned for 10 years. She had never worked in wine before, but she learned everything about the wine and the estate. Now, she can tell you all about the weather of any year and how each wine will express itself. She carries our stories and the wines' stories. Both my grandmother and my mother are wonderful women in wine.

Where can women find your wine?

You can come and visit the Chateau, and we are exported all over the world. Look here for you local options.