Michel Rolland launches multi-continent Bordeaux blend

The indefatigable Michel Rolland has unveiled a new winemaking project that brings together Bordeaux grape varieties from five different countries worldwide, creating an uber-blend called Pangaea that clocks in at €500 per bottle, with 2,500 bottles produced per year.

The project joins recent multi-region wines such as the Penfolds’ Wines of the World released in 2021 which contain grapes from both Napa and Australia, and the Penfolds II Cabernet Shiraz Merlot, a joint venture with Vignobles Dourthe whose inaugural 2019 vintage contained 71% grapes from Bordeaux and 29% from South Australia, blended and bottled in Australia. Back in 2010, James Suckling also created a blend called One Wine One World that assembled grapes from California, Mexico, Hungary, Slovenia, Roussillon and Italy, sold in aid of a charitable foundation.

Pangaea is a partnership between Rolland and South African investor Travis Braithwaite, who was born in Canada but grew up in Stellenbosch. A limited number of the inaugural 2015 vintage was released last September, with the 2016 planned for official release at an event with Stephanie Rolland, Michel Rolland’s daughter, during VinExpo Singapore in May 2023.

Each variety in the blend comes from a single place of origin – namely Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, Merlot from Right Bank Bordeaux, Petit Verdot from Dehesa del Carrizal “Vino de Pago” in Spain, Cabernet Franc from Helderberg, South Africa and Malbec from Valle de Uco, Argentina. They are not being more specific about which producers are growing the grapes, or whether they are from Rolland’s existing consultancy clients. Instead we are told they are, ‘created by Michel then blended and aged in Napa Valley’.

‘I began working on the idea of highlighting the terroirs of the world, and how they interconnect, back in 2012,’ says Braithwaite, ‘and approached Michel Rolland. Even though each area has been shaped by its own story and centuries of history and lessons, I want to show the harmony of bringing them together. This is a wine made from centuries of knowledge and skills from some of the oldest regions of the world. And each variety is individually focused on and created from terroir that is best suited for its growth.’

The wines are produced and barrel aged in their region of origin, then transported in individual stainless steel double-walled containers from 50l -300l in size. ‘For the 2015, 2016 and 2017 vintages,’ says Braithwaite, ‘most of the transport was done by shipping vessels on the water to ensure the integrity of the wine and temperature during transport. We are also due to start working with a charity called GreenPop in Africa on a tree planting scheme to offset the environmental impact of transporting the wines’.