Building future, tomorrow’s memory

May 2021

From the top of its promontory, the Troplong Mondot vineyard embraces contours that have altered little since its creation in 1700. The continuous ambition of its successive owners has been to ensure the estate’s longevity. Each and every one of them has taken a step forward in time; a philosophy that the SCOR group, which has owned the estate since 2017, applies to both its career opportunities and its investments. Today, it is still a question of looking ahead whilst keeping an eye in the rear-view mirror. At a time of accelerating economic and social changes, it is more urgent than ever to initiate actions whose achievements will be witnessed only by future generations. The next chapter in the memory of Troplong Mondot is being written now.

A wine estate cannot be built in a day. It is a continuous exercise. As acquisitions and developments take place, both an environmental and a real estate heritage are developed so as to form a coherent whole. The notion of a relay takes on its full meaning in this context. The generation at the helm is dependent on its era, and has to adapt to economic, social and climatic elements in order to ensure the continuity of what it has received from its predecessors. And it presents itself as the custodian of a whole that it will, in turn, have to pass on, once its mark has been made: a renovated building, a new plot of land, a planted hedge… When things are considered from this perspective, humility must be applied: each and every one of us is a simple cog in a memory spanning several decades.

TAKING ONE’S TIME

The rhythm of nature stretches time even further. It sets its calendar and keeps us waiting. In addition to the natural renewal of the vineyard, it is also necessary to anticipate future alterations: to foresee the grape varieties that will acclimatise best to climatic changes, to calculate how long the vines will need to “settle in” and do as best they can. The old vines share their genetic heritage thanks to massal selection, a memorable part of our heritage. From one winegrower to another, traditions are passed on, of course, as well as, beyond and above all, an environmental heritage. Troplong Mondot’s technical director has been here for the last twenty years and continues the work done before him to create and maintain the vineyard. The vines we grow today are nothing more than the result of yesterday’s concerns. We must project ourselves into the future so as to know how best to adapt ourselves and build tomorrow’s vineyard.

For this is our role: what we will leave to the future generations. However good the current vintage may be today, it will reach its peak in the coming decades, when tasted by our children and grandchildren. What a dizzying prospect! It is up to us to know how to evaluate the future of each batch at the time of blending. It is up to us to estimate the evolution of the wine after several years of ageing. And when it will come to be enjoyed, in 5, 20, 30 years… it will be like a window open in time. A link between generations, a diary of memorable circumstances: the year of a birth, of a heat wave, of a frost, of a new vat room… Just like other memories.

"For this is our role : what we will leave to the future generations."

CREATING THE LINK BETWEEN TODAY AND TOMORROW

Christine Valette, a key figure in the history of Troplong Mondot, contributed hugely to making the estate what it is today. Although an heiress, she did not consider herself as owning the estate, saying: “I don’t see Edouard Troplong’s office or library as belonging to me. They should remain, even if I have to leave. Like the vines, the woods, the park, the walls… these are things that do not belong to us. “By considering oneself as a simple element in a chain, one helps to create its continuity. And to ensure its longevity.

However, it is not a question of clinging on to the past. It is through appreciating our heritage that we continue to progress. The whole point of memory is to understand history so as to make the most of it, to know how to question what has been achieved so as to improve and adapt to a changing world. An example of this is the recent return to the principle of gravity in the Bordeaux cellars. This traditional method, which was abandoned in favour of pumps, is now being put back into practice, improved by greater precision and a more accurate use of gestures. This is just one example of a memory being brought up to date.

"By considering oneself as a simple element in a chain, one helps to create its continuity. And to ensure its longevity."

With this intention of linking the past, the present and the future, there is one attitude that is more determining than any other: that of a sustainable approach. This becomes apparent when considering the natural environment. For over twenty years, Troplong Mondot has been committed to a viticultural system that respects its terroir. Preservation of biodiversity, enhancement of the soil, limitation of inputs, animal traction… are all indications of an setting designed with the future in mind. However, sustainability cannot be measured in terms of nature alone: it also depends on social and economic thresholds. In a form of humanism that Raymond-Théodore Mondot, a peer of France during the Enlightenment, would not have disowned, the property exists as a whole that brings together Man and Nature. Its vocation is to ensure the continuity of this interdependent whole. This is reflected in the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach initiated several years ago, which is one of SCOR’s major objectives. In order to continue to exist, we must of course preserve nature, but also the economic and social balance of our environment. It is leading onwards from this challenge that the writing of a new chapter begins, in a thriving and constantly renewed memory.

(*) in Autour d’une bouteille avec Christine Valette

Gilles Berdin, ed. Elytis 2010, p. 85