Caroline Latrive of Champagne Ayala Q&A
In honor of Women's History Month, we spoke with some of the top women winemakers working in the industry today to learn more about them, their craft, and the wines they produce. Stay tuned throughout the month of March as we update this women in wine series with more interviews and be sure to check out our wine list featuring wineries who have women winemakers on staff.
Caroline Latrive, Chef de Cave of Champagne Ayala.
Wine.com: How would you describe your approach to winemaking? What makes that unique?
Caroline Latrive: The purpose of winemaking for me is clear: to let the wines express themselves by grape-variety, by village and cru, and by vintage too. This is to obtain the largest and widest range of wines to blend. Winemaking is unique every year, because every year is different. The harvest, climate condition, acidity, maturity, expression of the grapes… each year is unique. But despite those differences, we aim to create the same cuvées every year and to maintain our style, which is always Chardonnay-oriented (we have at least 40% of Chardonnay in our cuvées).
W: How would you describe the magic of Champagne Ayala?
CL: We must speak about Ayala in terms of different kinds of magic. Why? Take a bottle of Champagne, pour the nectar into your glass, and create an event with different characters. You will obtain a kind of magic that is unique and different from that of your neighbour... Each Champagne Ayala is unique, each moment is unique, each person as well.
But one driving line that describes Champagne Ayala: "an amazing freshness, a pure line and a great silky texture."
But one driving line that describes Champagne Ayala: "an amazing freshness, a pure line and a great silky texture."
W: What’s one thing people wouldn’t know or expect about your path to becoming a winemaker?
CL: There is no specific rule to be or become a cellarmaster, but to be a winemaker, you need a scientific background (for sure, but not only). You must also feel the wines. You must respect their fundamental identity in order to create and sublimate the wines. You must be passionate and creative in order to imagine their beginning and their future.
W: What’s your can’t-fail food and wine pairing?
CL: One of my favorite food pairings for Champagne Ayala is a carpaccio of scallops with a touch of olive oil and a zest of lemon, nothing else… pure and raw.
Thank you, Caroline!
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Stay tuned throughout the month of March for more interviews and opportunities to shop wines from women winemakers. Cheers!