Christian Seely is MD of the AXA Millésimes group of vineyards, which incorporates prestigious properties in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Hungary, Portugal, Napa and Sonoma. He’s additionally president of négociant Compagnie Médocaine des Grands Crus, additionally a part of AXA Millésimes. Seely can also be part-owner of Quinta da Romaneira within the Douro and co-founder and joint-owner of English glowing wine producer Coates & Seely.
How did you get right here?
I started working with AXA Millésimes after I was appointed MD of Quinta do Noval simply after we acquired it in 1993. Noval had gone via a tough interval, and the vineyards and the wines wanted lots of love and a spotlight. I spent seven marvellous years within the Douro working with the Noval crew to carry it again to being nice once more. Then, in 2001, AXA invited me to return to Bordeaux to tackle the function of MD of the AXA Millésimes wine group, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.
Any tips about time administration? How do you divide your time efficiently between so many properties?
The secret’s to have sensible, competent folks in every property with whom you’ll be able to work on the idea of mutual confidence and belief. I spend lots of time travelling to the properties; that’s essential, however additionally it is essential that my presence shouldn’t be essential on a regular basis – and it isn’t.
What’s the commonest false impression about your job?
Possibly the concept that I’m a winemaker. I’m not. I take full duty, and with nice happiness, for all of the wines that we make, however every winery has a crew of devoted viticulturists and oenologists striving to make wines that specific the grandeur of the terroirs we work with. We share that concept, however it’s not me making the wines; it’s the very proficient individuals who encompass me.
Your biggest skilled second?
Maybe once we tasted the Quinta do Noval Classic and the Quinta do Noval Nacional Classic Ports of 1997 once we had the ultimate wines prepared for bottling in 1999, and I realised that Noval was again to creating nice wines once more. There have been many related moments since then, at Noval and at different properties, however that second was profoundly thrilling: we realised that it was all going to work, and that this nice winery can be producing fantastic wines once more.
And your biggest mistake?
Not planting extra vines within the Douro for making white wines earlier. We now realise the potential for dry unfortified white wines within the Douro, and our greatest ones are from vines we planted round 15 years in the past. I simply want we had planted extra!
What recommendation would you give somebody eager to comply with your profession path?
That is the form of job you’ll be able to solely do when you love each minute of day by day and are ready to commit your self to it completely. Additionally, you should always remember that the aim of what we do is to provide folks pleasure. In the event you can not really feel that pleasure your self, have enjoyable and share that feeling with these round you, then it most likely won’t work.
What do you take pleasure in ingesting at residence?
I drink the wines we make at AXA Millésimes frequently, in addition to these of Coates & Seely and of Romaneira, however I drink wines from all around the world from many producers, with a completely open thoughts. In fact, to drink wines from a winery that you’ve got identified and labored with for a few years is an excellent expertise, however additionally it is nice enjoyable to see what’s going on elsewhere, and I spend lots of gratifying time doing simply that.
