Émile Peynaud

Émile Peynaud ( born June 29, 1912 in Madiran / Gers; † 18 July 2004 in Talence near Bordeaux ) was one of the most important winemakers and tasters of the 20th century. As a professor at the University of Bordeaux, he wrote about 300 papers on the topics of winemaking as well as numerous books on the subject of wine. In addition, he advised more than 100 renowned wineries around the globe. He was the first to recognize the importance of a controlled malolactic fermentation the wine.

Biography

At the age of 15 years Peynaud entered the service of the wine trade house Calvet. There he worked under the guidance of the chemist Jean Gayon Ribéreau - to analysis for determining the quality of the purchased wine. Together with Ribérau - Gayon, he began the scientific elaboration of the problems encountered in Calvet. After the Second World War Peynaud completed a doctorate at the University of Bordeaux, where he received a full professorship. From 1949 he headed the agricultural and oenological research. From 1968 to 1977 he was director of the Institute of Enology.

At the beginning of the 1940s the correct expansion of the wine was often a product of chance, since the correlations of various parameters have not yet understood. His work, he focused on four aspects of viticulture:

• Peynaud was convinced that the reading material was introduced into the rule still unripe. He therefore persuaded some of the leading wineries of Bordeaux, the grape harvest to move about two weeks, but then carried out in a much shorter time to counteract a possible decay of the berries. By this measure achieved the goods wines with a deeper color and a purer taste. Due to the mature tannins, the wine easier to open and be complacent.
• Through a separate expansion of berries of different vineyards or different old vines Peynaud could control the ripeness of the tannins better.
• Peynaud recommended the temperature control of fermentation on the skins as an important quality factor. He noted that at high temperatures led to faulty fermentation in the fermentation and therefore recommended the controlled cooling of the mash. This long been known in the Champagne principle he applied also to the wines of Bordeaux and was fresh and fruity wines that influenced the modern style of wine sustainably.
• Peynaud advised the tenants to let hitherto regarded as an error malolactic fermentation carried out under controlled conditions, as he noted that this fermentation will begin later in any case in the bottle and then leads to a wine fault.

These four basic principles have been used very successfully around the world and reduced the error rate in the international wine growing significantly. He was, however, often criticized for the style of wine to be very uniformed, since the wines were very pleasant to drink already a relatively young age. From today's perspective, however, one must realize that the wines have a further considerable aging potential. However, in contrast to his disciple Michel Rolland, he created among its customers not put new wine style, but only increased the quality of the wines available.

In the prestigious wine magazine The Decanter, he was awarded Man of the Year 1990.

The list of advised by Émile Peynaud goods reads like a Who's Who of the most famous wineries in the Bordeaux area. He consulted not only the three big corporations Suntory, Seagram, and Domecq (→ Pernod Ricard ). His clients were also 45 of the classified Bordeaux Châteaux and 13 of the best assets of the area Graves. In addition, there may have been several hundred estates in Pomerol, Saint -Emilion and Sauternes, who took his services. Its probably the most remarkable results he achieved at Château Lafite -Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Cheval Blanc, Chateau Leoville -las- Cases, Château Beychevelle, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Chateau - Lynch -Bages.

Works (selection)

• The high school for wine connoisseurs. Albert Müller Verlag, Stuttgart, inter alia, 1984, ISBN 3-275-00843-9.
• Le goût du vin. 1st edition, Bordas, Paris 1980.

• Connaissance et travail du vin. Dunod, Paris 1981.
• Le vin et les jours. Dunod, Paris 1988.
• Traité d' œnologie ( with Jean Ribéreau - Gayon ). Ch Beranger, Paris, 1961 ( Vol. 2).
• Sciences et techniques du vin ( with Jean Pascal and Ribéreau - Gayon ). Dunod, Paris, 1975 ( Vol. 2).