Employees of Montesquieu Wines will sit among some of the most distinguished industry professionals in the world. The story of Stephane Derenoncourt will likely be of interest to any who are considering wine as the primary focus of their career. Carried to wine on the wings of love, quite literally, Mr. Derenoncourt found himself in Bordeaux in the heart of French wine country as a teenager. Badly in need of work due to a severe industry depression in his beer-drinking hometown of Dunkirk (and in equal parts following after his paramour) Derenoncourt looked to Bordeaux earn his keep with the numerous petites façons, or basic jobs such as clearing away the debris of pruning and putting up props in the vineyards rumored to be available there.

At the tender age of 19 when he left home to begin this work, Stéphane Derenoncourt had still never seen a vine plant or conceived of the idea that he might someday become an oenologist of great notoriety. For that matter, he did not even know what the word meant; having grown up in a blue collar home that considered beer the far greater pleasure.

His dutiful work taught him everything about the production of vines from seed to grape to cellar to bottle, and delivered him into the hands of many prominent winemakers. It wasn't long before Derenoncourt began to understand what all of the petites façons he had performed in the vineyard had meant to wine production, and he decided to further a career in the wine world. Today, using such distinctive winemaking and vineyard techniques as micro-bullage and élevage, Derenoncourt has risen to fame in France and the world over. Through the years, he has embraced gentle, flexible ways to handle the grapes and the wine. For him, this gives deference to the natural terroir of the fruit, showing respect for its big, textured, velvety feel. This is contrary to the logic being employed by other vintners at the time.

Ever an artist, he refers to many of the standard techniques as “a philosophy of violence; they spend months growing great grapes, then declare war on them when harvest rolled around." Instead, Derenoncourt practices “biodynamics,” avoiding violent manipulation of the grapes such mechanical destemming. He doesn’t like to crush the grapes, but puts them whole into the fermentation vats. Further, he will sweep the vineyard three or even four times to ensure all the grapes going into a wine are ripe. He consults for two dozen clients in France, Spain and Italy in addition to Montesquieu, and is currently based in Bordeaux.

His story is one of drive, ingenuity, inspiration and discovery. That he never shied away from the hard bullwork that underscores his current accomplishments is to Montesquieu, as worthy and significant a quality as any. It has been said of Derenoncourt that while he does not seek out media attention, it somehow seems to find him. It could perhaps better be said, that because he does not seek out media attention, the media comes after him. Mr. Derenoncourt has little time for press and publicity because he is singularly absorbed in the work of winemaking, and has no need to focus his energy on anything but this demanding and highly rewarding work.

Derenoncourt's work philosophy is to respect nature and the identity of each wine. He states "I work on phytotherapy, on how to cure the vine using homeopathy, which is something fairly close to biodynamic principles. I also work on the ecosystem, I am trying to find out what type of trees or bushes I could plant to attract the insects that are beneficial to vine growing. The final goal is to reach a balance that would allow the vine to regulate itself, with a minimum of human intervention."

His spirit of respect—for his work and for the land—is precisely what Montesquieu seeks to find in their future employees.