The Winemakers' Collection Cuvee No. 1 Michel Rolland Haut-Medoc 2005

"This exciting, totally new concept will be fascinating to follow over the ensuing years. The negociant firm of Bordeaux Millesimes decided to launch a wine with a cinematic approach, choosing one of the world’s great winemakers to focus on a single terroir, in this case the vineyard of Chateau d’Arsac in the southern Medoc, and produce 5,000 cases with no compromises. Everything is done at the discretion of the winemaker, from yields, the choice of fermenters, the type of barrels, the time in oak, and the manner in which the wine is bottled. The winemaker will change each year. Episode 1, which will be released in 2007, is produced by Michel Rolland, whose serious image appears on the label. The winemaker for Episode 2 will be the well-known University of Bordeaux professor, Denis Dubourdieu. The choice for Episode 3 will apparently be one of California’s greatest winemakers, assuming the details can be worked out. The following years will be handled by some of the great winemakers of France, California, Italy, Spain, Australia, and elsewhere. All will be utilizing the same terroir, but will obviously be faced with vintage variations, yet will have carte blanche to do whatever they want. Since these winemakers all possess brilliant resumes (and egos to match in some cases), this will be a serious competition among the creme de la creme."