Mr. Perrin, owner and wine grower, acquired the Château Lagrézette, near Cahors, in 1980; a building dating from the 15th Century, classed as an historic monument. The restoration of the Château, its gardens and vineyards took 10 years.
It is the only wine estate in the appellation to be called the “Quintessence of Cahors” by Robert Parker, who has awarded many high ratings to the Malbecs of Lagrézette.

 In 2005, Château Lagrézette was recognized as one of the 100 best wines in the world by Wine Spectator. In 2003, the Château celebrated its 500th grape harvest. To mark this occasion a book was published tracing the history of the Château, entitled “Dame Honneur, une Légende de Cahors”.

In 2005, a second book “Château Lagrézette”, a collection of recipes and photographs, was published by Editions du Regard. Not far away, in Rocamadour, Alain Dominique planted 10 hectares of vines in 2001, thus allowing a village to see its wine reborn after the disappearance of the last vine stock in the Middle Ages. I met Mr. Perrin for this interview in his offices in Paris.

TASTED : Has wine always been part of your life or is there a particular event that brought on your appreciation ?

MR PERRIN : With my family having its origins in Burgundy, naturally wine flows in my veins. I have a lot of respect and passion for what is a part my culture, thus I’ve never needed a particular event to make me appreciate it.

TASTED : What was your best “Wine” moment ?

MR PERRIN : There have been many great ones. With friends I love to organize blind tastings which are always a real pleasure and a whole lot of fun. During one of these with friend Michel Rolland, we were particularly surprised by a Pétrus that no one identified. A great wine and a magnificent moment !

TASTED : Do you have a favourite wine ?

MR PERRIN : La Turque de Guigal a Côtes Rôtie La Romanée Conti, two of my favourite wines at their Best.

TASTED : In which settings do you best appreciate wine ?

MR PERRIN : I prefer to have them with a good meal in a nice sociable atmosphere. I’m against the excess of ceremonials when drinking good wines.

TASTED : Under which circumstances did you acquire Château Lagrézette ?

MR PERRIN : I bought it in 1980, choosing it first and foremost not for the wine, but because it looked so beautiful. It is, however, one of the oldest vineyards in France, dating from the 13th century. We found documents regarding the 1503 harvest. When I bought Château Lagrézette all vineyards were fallow. We pulled out all the vines and replanted 100% Malbec in 2001.

TASTED : Do you think wine is a luxury product just as perfume, Haute-Couture or watches ?

MR PERRIN : No. For me it isn’t and I refuse to regard it as such. It’s first and foremost a drink. I’m passionate about wine and certainly it can often be very expensive. Luxury products are lasting items such as watches or handbags, but not wine. I know that several producers, especially in Bordeaux, dream of making it luxurious. I say, stop being foolish; that’s just a dream ! Sure, some wines are very expensive, but that’s all.

TASTED : In your EDC School of Leaders and Business Creators, you also offer an MBA in Food & Wine marketing. What do the students learn and for which professions does this MBA prepare them ?

MR PERRIN : They learn how to manage companies in the wine and gastronomy sector. There’s an increasing demand for people with great managing skills specializing in this area. Some decades ago, even the really great Michelin-rated restaurants were just small structures.Today they are huge companies.
Take chefs like Joël Robuchon or Alain Ducasse that have international restaurants of supremely high standards. Nearly all of them created brands and labels under which they market their products. Therefore, the need for people who specialize in marketing is vastly important. The same is true for the wine business where management of stocks and administrating skills is very specific. Even 15 years ago marketing or advertising didn’t exist in these sectors.Today, both are necessities.

TASTED : How do you as a wine-grower and Château-owner perceive the role of the great wine critiques ?

MR PERRIN : I’m very attached to the liberty of opinion. I have a lot of respect for wine critiques. Robert Parker has become absolutely essential. In some regions such as Bordeaux, some even wait to be rated before they fix their prices.

TASTED : And what about the role of sommeliers ?

MR PERRIN : They have great importance for they areadvisers and consultants for the consumers. It is vital that their advice remains impartial, free of any commercial obligation or influence.

TASTED : For this TASTED edition we had current world sommelier champion Andreas Larsson smell several perfumes which he associated to different wines. What do you think about this experience ?

MR PERRIN : The aroma of a wine, Nez du Vin, is very important. Mr Lenoir invented a set of fragrances with different aromas called “Le Nez du Vin,” so I completely agree with this kind of experiment. Born in 1942 in Nantes/ France, Alain Dominique Perrin is one of France’s most important business leaders.
At the head of the Directorship of Cartier International and Cartier SA, since the early 1980’s, he took over the leadership of the second largest group in the world for luxury, the Richemont Group at the beginning of 1999.
They specialize in jewellery, watch-making and accessories across 18 international brands (Cartier,Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Purdey, Baume & Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lange & Söhne, Officine Panerai, IWC, Piaget, Montblanc, Montegrappa, Chloé, Shanghai Tang, Lancel, Dunhill, Hackett and Old England).

 

Since October 2003, he has been Executive  Director of Companie Financière Richemont. The father of 5 children, Mr. Perrin is an officer of the Légion d’Honneur, Commander of the National Order of Merit, Commander of Arts and Letters and Officer of Agricultural Merit. In 1986 he was named Representative for the Patronage of Business by François Léotard, The French Minister of Culture and Communication.
 He is the author of French Patronage, which gave rise to the Léotard Law in July 1987. A great passionate of contemporary art, he founded the “Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art” in 1984 together with his friend, sculptor César.

In 2004 Mr.Perrin was named President of the Public Establishment of the Jeu de Paume (Paris) by the French Minister for Culture. He is also a member of the International Board of Tate Gallery (London). Very engaged in the sector of education, Alain created the training institute for High Jewellery (IFHH). In 1995 he bought out his school, EDC, together with 260 other ex-students. Founded in 1950, EDC is the oldest private French school of commerce.
 It was renamed School of Leaders and Creators of Business. Today Alain Dominique is its President. It also houses the Institut Supérieur du Marketing du Luxe, which develops an MBA programme “Luxury Brand Marketing and International Management,” and the Institute Supérieur du Marketing du Goût, which since 2005 has offered an MBA programme “Food and Wine,” with the aim of training future managers of the gastronomy and wine business.

Alain Dominique Perrin is also Administrator of EFMD (European Foundation of Management Development), an organisation of more than 500 members, based in Brussels, and President of the Strategic Committee of Sciences-Com, a school based in Nantes, dedicated to communication Science.Together with some friends, Mr. Perrin restored the sailing ship Aile VI, 8 metres of J.I, Olympic Winner in 1928.
 Today it is classed as historic French Heritage. The sailing ship participates in international nautical events, European Championships and World Championships in its category. In 2003, Alain Dominique Perrin decided to create with the architect Jean-Marie Finot his own sailing ship, the ADP52, a high-tech racing-cruise ship of 15.70 metres. Entirely built of carbon, it combines performances of a racing boat with the comfort of a pleasure craft.

There are plans to build 9 examples in a limited series. The first, owned by Alain Dominique, was named Aile VII. In 2005, Mr. Perrin decided to restore Star of the Seas, the sailing boat belonging to his father, born in the dockyards of the Vendée in 1903. He puts it at the disposal of the“Grain of Salt” organisation of Noirmoutier to allow underprivileged children from the island to sail in groups every week during the summer holidays, supervised by a trainer and professional skipper.

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