L’If
The sun was setting on the last years of the 1970s when, in a small corner of Pomerol, a young Jacques Thienpont began to harvest his first grapes. He was the latest generation of the family to come down from their native Belgium to work in the Bordeaux wine trade, an arrangement that had been in place for several generations. The family’s négociant business had been founded by Kamiel Thienpont (1819 – 1896) in 1842, and since that time many members of the family have made the trek down to this little corner of France. It was not until the early 20th century, however, that Georges Thienpont (1883 – 1962) began to put down roots, buying Château Troplong-Mondot in St Emilion in 1921, and then Vieux Château Certan in 1924.
The story of Georges and his many sons, the Bordeaux-branch of the Thienpont family, has already been well documented on these pages, not least in my profile of Le Pin. It was in this vineyard that the aforementioned Jacques Thienpont (pictured), began his first harvest in 1979. What was Jacques thinking to himself when he watched the first grapes roll in, I wonder? Was he happy simply to have a vineyard of his own, his own little kingdom, albeit a rather expensive one? The family had paid 1 million francs for it, a very high price at the time, although it would be considered peanuts today. Or was he looking to the future, planning to build a brand that would challenge Petrus for supremacy within the appellation? Having met Jacques several times, I am tempted to think the former. At heart he is a winemaker, who believes wine is to be drunk, and I do not think he foresaw or planned the rise to greatness that Le Pin has enjoyed. Indeed, I don’t think anybody could have foreseen or planned for such a thing.
