Meet David Launay of Château Gruaud Larose

The Lyric Opera of Chicago and its Women’s Board are preparing for another dazzling stage performance on February 7 with its Wine Auction 2015, a most elegant affair with proceeds going directly to the Lyric’s annual campaign which supports the world renown opera company’s activities. The February evening will begin with a ball-gown-worthy reception and silent auction after which guests will enter the Ardis Krainik Theatre where the main stage will be transformed into a memorable dinner and live auction setting for more than 500 guests who are able to bid on an array of carefully curated wines, visits to renowned restaurants and unique luxury items and experiences.

The Honored Guest of the evening will be David Launay of Château Gruaud Larose which is known internationally for its incredible caliber of Bordeaux wines.  It is one of the most historic estates in the Left Bank region of the Medoc and boasts a unique distinction as being a single vineyard estate with boundaries unchanged since the 18th century.  Grape varieties grown are mostly Cabernet Sauvignon along with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc.

Recently I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet and talk with David Launay at The Boarding House where a lovely reception was given by the Women’s Board to begin the Wine Auction season and to toast their 2015 Honored Guest. Between swirls and sips of Château Gruaud Larose 1998 and 2010 and Sarget 2006 and tastes of savory appetizers including chick pea fritters with tahini vinaigrette, grilled sliced steak with harissa, pickled fennel on a crostini, and lamb shanks with feuille de brick and mint yogurt I learned more about David Launay…his passions, philosophy, and yes, his favorite wines.  I now understand why this incredibly interesting, gregarious man was chosen as the Honored Guest at such a highly profiled charitable event, the 2012 Wine Auction having been named as one of the Top Ten Charity Wine Auctions by Wine Spectator.

David Launay, from the Maine-et-Loire region of France, has a degree in Viticulture and Oenology, four years experience as a wine broker in Hong Kong, and now twelve years experience at Château Gruaud Larose.  He shared that he “started from scratch, going through the different works of the vineyard up to the harvest and vinifications.”  Currently Launay is the Sales Director and works with Jean Merlaut, the owner, as a team.  He considers one of the challenges of the position is to “produce the best wine every year by accepting the whims of the weather.  Then, the next step is to succeed in selling the wine.”

As I was waxing poetic about the aromas and palate profile of the Château Gruaud Larose 2010, Launay explained that “one of his major highlights was to produce the 2010 vintage, a unique vintage which respects the style of Gruaud Larose, powerful and elegant, most accomplished, and probably the best ever produced at the Château.”  However, he continued, the 2010 vintage was difficult since “all of the levels of sugar, acidity, and tannins were over the top.  It was crucial to respect the balance of our wine.  It finally came out through the weather with a beautiful autumn with some hot days and cool nights.”

I was curious about how he spends his time away from the vines. Launay shared that he enjoys wines from around the world.  He likes those “which provide some soul through the history of the estate or the personality of the owner and winemaker”.  It could be from France, California, Spain, Italy…but “they need to be authentic.  They have to create some emotions, some pleasure.”  Launay has plenty of opportunity to taste wines from around the world as he travels more than half of his time.

Vacations, though, aren’t too far from Bordeaux.  During winter, he enjoys skiing in the Alps and in summer, beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean coast or those in the Bordeaux area beckon with a “special light and color of the sky and sea”.  Yet, Launay loves to travel to Tokyo “for the refinement”, New York “for the energy and sensation that everything is possible”, Hong Kong “for the spiciness” and England “for its style”.  Running (he successfully finished five marathons including the New York marathon), tennis, sailing, hiking (he completed two 62 mile hikes in Hong Kong), and golf along with a passion for classic cars and Japanese gardens round out the interests of this fascinating, charismatic, Renaissance man.

Previous Lyric Opera Wine Auctions championed wines from Burgundy and Champagne. It was decided that it is time for wines from beautiful Bordeaux to be showcased.  David Launay is the perfect choice to represent the region and I look forward to his return to Chicago for the event.  For more information about the Wine Auction 2015, please follow the link and don’t forget to pour yourself a special glass of Château Gruaud Larose Bordeaux.

Cheers~ Cindy

 Note: I would like to thank David Launay for taking the time to answer my questions during the event and upon his return to France, Janet Isabelli of Isabelli Media Relations and Alpana Singh at The Boarding House for orchestrating the evening’s festivities, photographer Jaclyn Simpson for allowing me to use her pictures in the body of this article, and the beautiful ladies of the Women’s Board of the Lyric Opera for hosting such a wonderful reception.