Every enophile has a tale about their first encounter with wine. During a visit to Bordeaux, Westgarth Wines spoke with leading vintners from the Left and Right Bank about their earliest memories of the iconic drink that was to lead them into the profession in one of the world’s most prestigious wine regions.

Whether a chance meeting on the ski slopes, bustling harvests, or simply a childhood drop of cru classé diluted in a glass of water, these Bordeaux visionaries’ memories make charming and intriguing reading!

Olivier Gailly has his roots in two legendary French wine regions, so it’s little surprise that he has moved effortlessly into the wine business, most recently as Commercial Director at Premier Grand Cru Classé (A) Château Pavie in Saint-Émilion. Born in Champagne, he told Westgarth Wines that “he was kind of baptized” with the hallmark sparkling wine, which was followed by early exposure to the wines of Bordeaux, where he was raised.

“My first memory of wine was just dipping my finger into my father’s glass on Sundays when we had the chance to taste wine.”

Jean Charles Cazes, CEO of the family Fifth Growth Pauillac producer, Château Lynch-Bages, also lived and breathed wine as a child. “I remember, during harvest, people having meals and drinking wine, and I was allowed to try a little bit of wine diluted in water with a little bit of sugar. I was very young.”

Stéphane von Neipperg is convinced that his childhood contact with wine laid the foundations for him regarding the beverage as not simply an alcoholic drink; It encouraged him to, eventually, develop discernment “about culture, tasting, and luxury”.

Representing the 37th generation in a family with deep winemaking roots, the owner of Premier Grand Cru Classé property Château La Mondotte in Saint-Émilion recalled that his earliest experience of wine was a mixture with water from a very young age.

“We always had a small water glass with a little bit of wine,” he told Westgarth Wines, explaining that his parents would affectionately ask what he and his siblings were smelling and tasting.

“We had to give an answer!”

For Justine Tesseron, the third generation and co-owner of Château Pontet-Canet, family links to the local wine industry create a rich backdrop for early reminiscences.

“I was born in Bordeaux city and my father worked at Pontet Canet after my grandfather bought the château in 1975,” she told Westgarth Wines. “My brother and I always liked to come here. I have some memories of tasting the first juice with my father. It was nice to taste the first wine as a child. I think it always makes me a bit dreamy when I go into the vineyard now.”

Harvest at the estate attracts a 250-strong team, half of whom eat and sleep at the property during the picking. “It’s a huge, vibrant atmosphere. When I was a child, and even now, I'm still very impressed. It was the kind of memory that I lived when I was young, but I still live it now, and I really enjoy it.”

Ronan Laborde, Managing Director and owner of Château Clinet in Pomerol, similarly, has deeply rooted family memories that, eventually, opened his heart to winemaking.

“When I was a kid, my father would invite many people to our home for lunches and dinners, and we had nice pairings with food,” he explained. “Wine was something very natural, and I was the person who selected the wines, so it attracted my special interest. I read books, looked at the cellars deeply, and I decided I wanted a career in this field as a sommelier.”

In the end, Laborde went a step further. “Finally, with the support of my family, we bought an estate. Clinet was the one. So that's how it all started.”

Not every Bordeaux wine pro was born in France within a stone’s throw of famous vineyards.

Managing Director of AXA Millésimes (owner of Second Growth Château Pichon-Longueville Baron in Pauillac), Christian Seely, is English, and it was his father, a Britain-based wine writer-restaurateur, who introduced him to the wonders of wine. “He was an Englishman in love with everything French — good food and fine wine.”

Seely’s dad enjoyed sharing wine with his son, who joked that the age he started sampling fine wine was probably illegal. “I grew up rather atypically for an Englishman of my generation, eating extremely well. My father shared his passion with me, and I fell in when I was a baby, you could say.”

Newfoundlander MW, Tracey Dobbin, grew up far away from the vineyards of Bordeaux in the eastern reaches of Canada. Today, she’s the special advisor for wines and markets at Saint-Julien house, Second Growth Château Ducru-Beaucaillou.

Speaking about her first memories of wine, she told Westgarth Wines about the cultural uniqueness of Canada’s Atlantic seaboard.

“We’re different from most of North America. We have a history of wine and wine collecting because there's a strong English presence in Newfoundland. As a child, there was always wine at our table ­– especially Bordeaux – and I remember my father getting us all to have little sips and taste it from a young age. I was fascinated by the complexity of smells.”

You wouldn’t normally associate Bordeaux with competitive skiing, but that’s where Florence Cathiard, who co-owns Château Smith Haut Lafitte with husband Daniel, traces her first vibrant memories of wine.

“When we were young, my husband and I met in the French national ski team. I must have been 14, he must have been 18. We were the only students in the team, and then, the only alcohol we were allowed to drink was Bordeaux wine – one glass on the eve of downhill races,” the proprietor of the Grand Cru Classé Graves house told Westgarth Wines. “When we got married, we asked for a wedding list with good bottles of red Bordeaux!”

For some, pinpointing a first wine memory is impossible. Philippe Bascaules, Managing Director of First Growth house, Château Margaux, is in this group. When Westgarth Wines asked about his earliest experience of wine, he had this to say:

“I don't remember because, always in my life, I think I have seen a bottle of wine on the table!”

Do you remember your first wine sip? Where were you, what were you tasting, and how did the experience begin your wine journey? Let us know in our socials!

Want to read more? Take a look at some of our other blogs:

• • Bordeaux winemakers on their personal top cellar picks
  • Wine labels Part 1: An intriguing history
  • Wine labels Part 2: Inspiration behind Bordeaux designs