Meet a true legend of winemaking. Ever heard of Opus One? How about Château Mouton Rothschild? Pascal Marty, owner and winemaker of Viña Marty in Chile, has a hand in those truly groundbreaking and world-renowned wines and wineries. Beyond that, Pascal is just a delightful, warm, and transparent person. A true pleasure to get to know. In our conversation, we talk about how an experience in a winery as a young man changed the trajectory of his whole life. We also talk about how his stubborn streak led him to not only study enology in Bordeaux, but fly to Napa to do his capstone project despite his professors’ incredulity at his choice because, in the 1980’s, no great French winemakers thought that was a good use of time. Pascal has always a been a trailblazer and an adventurer, making some of the greatest wines in the world in France, California, and for more than 20 years now, Chile. We have done some great interviews with winemakers, but this may be the one that us truly honored and humbled. You will love to get to know Pascal.
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Show Notes
KEY INSIGHTS & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Q: Who is Pascal Marty and why is his winemaking background so unusual?
A: Pascal Marty is one of the most well-traveled winemakers alive, with a resume that spans three continents and some of the most famous wine names on earth. After graduating from the Enology Institute of Bordeaux in 1982, he worked for Baron Philippe de Rothschild for over 14 years, became a key technical member of the Opus One team in California, and then moved to Chile to co-found Viña Almaviva. He launched his own winery, Viña Marty, in 2008.
Q: What is Viña Marty and what makes it different from Pascal Marty's previous projects?
A: Viña Marty is Pascal Marty's personal winemaking vision after decades of building other people's legacies. Founded in 2008, it represents the synthesis of a life in the wine industry, combining Old World tradition from France with New World excellence and technology from California and Chile. Vineyards are planted across multiple Chilean valleys including Maipo Alto, Colchagua, Cachapoal, Aconcagua, and Leyda, exploring ancient micro-terroirs and the expression of the best Chilean varieties.
Q: What is Goutte d'Argent and why is it one of the most unusual Sauvignon Blancs in the world?
A: Goutte d'Argent is a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc fermented with Japanese sake yeast, and there is nothing else quite like it on earth. Viña Marty is the only non-Japanese member of the association of sake producers with the right to use sake yeast No. 7 for wine production. Pascal Marty ferments the wine at very low temperatures, the way sake is brewed in Japan, which the sake yeast handles naturally, preserving delicate aromatics and producing a surprisingly elegant, textural result.
Q: How did Pascal Marty get access to the sake yeast used in Goutte d'Argent?
A: It took five years of stubborn persistence to pull off. A five-year negotiation with the Sake producer association finally gave Pascal Marty access to sake yeast to make wine. In 2018, with a small batch of Sauvignon Blanc, expectations were not met but totally surpassed, with the wine turning out more elegant, harmonious, and floral than he had imagined. The label design was created with help from the duo behind the famous Japanese manga series "Drops of God."
Q: What wines put Pascal Marty on the map before he founded Viña Marty?
A: The short answer is some of the most storied labels in wine history. Pascal Marty's wines have consistently received ratings in the 95 to 100 point range from Robert Parker and Wine Spectator. At Viña Almaviva, he revitalized 40 hectares of vineyards and supervised the construction of a new winery, and in 2003 he created the first icon wine for Cousiño Macul, called Lota. Before Chile, he was part of the original Opus One team in Napa Valley.
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Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #21: Pascal Marty Owner and Winemaker of Viña Marty
Hello, and welcome to this special episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and for this special episode,it’s just me! Carmela is making cakes in her bakery, which by the way you can learn more about if you head over to her website lovebabycakes.com, or maybe we are just out of town and while we are out, we are letting you hear our amazing conversations with winemakers.
Today, we are going to introduce you to Pascal Marty Owner and Winemaker of Viña Marty. Pascal Marty's résumé reads like a greatest hits of the wine world, and that's not an exaggeration. After graduating from the Enology Institute of Bordeaux in 1982, he spent over 14 years as a winemaker for Baron Philippe de Rothschild, which alone would be a career. But then a joint venture between Rothschild and Robert Mondavi brought him to California, where he became a key technical member of the Opus One team, helping lead the development and construction of their innovative winery. After California, he moved to Chile in 1997 to take on the role of Co-General Manager and Winemaker at Viña Almaviva, a prestige joint venture between Rothschild and Concha y Toro in the Maipo Valley, where he revitalized the vineyards and built the winery from the ground up. His wines there consistently pulled scores in the 95–100 point range from Robert Parker and Wine Spectator. After two decades, he left in 2003 to travel and consult, then founded Viña Marty in 2008 to build something entirely his own. And just when you thought the story couldn't get more interesting, he spent five years negotiating with a Japanese sake producer association to get access to sake yeast, ultimately using it to make a Sauvignon Blanc that completely surprised even him.
Before our chat with Pascal, I want to give you all a quick orientation to what we usually do in our podcast. In most episodes we learn about, taste, and review two to three wines that are reasonably priced, which means under $25, and should be easy to find. However, for this special set of episodes, we interview people who are involved in actually making wine. Because part of what we want to do with our podcast is to educate ourselves and you our listeners on different aspects of wine knowledge in a fun, entertaining, and unstuffy way, even entertaining as Decanter magazine has called our podcast, and that is what we are doing today!
A small plug before we get to the interview with Pascal - if you like what you are hearing or are interested in hearing our other “regular” episodes, please subscribe or follow our podcast so you can hear more - especially since you are only getting one half of The Wine Pair Podcast in this episode! You can also go to our website thewinepairpodcast.com to send us a note or subscribe to our newsletter, you can follow us on Instagram and Bluesky at The Wine Pair Podcast, and, if you like what you are hearing, you can even leave us a nice rating and review, we won’t mind!
Ok, let’s get to the interview with Pascal
Interview with Pascal Marty 04:18
Hello Pascal, and welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. We are so happy that you could join us, and we are really excited to have our listeners learn more about who you are and about your background and your wine and your winery Viña Marty so if you’re ready, let’s get started.
Interview Questions:
- Tell us a little about yourself - your background, your family, etc., and if wine played any part in your growing up
- Tell us about how you got into winemaking. Was this something you had planned for and pursued, or did it "find" you?
- Did you have a mentor, or someone who taught you the ropes?
- What do you think defines you as a winemaker and makes you and your wines special?
- Tell us about a few of your latest releases and what makes you excited about them.
- Do you lean more towards the art or the science of wine (or both)?
- What’s something surprising, interesting, exciting, or funny you have learned about yourself since you started making wine?
- Are there any important or interesting stories about your wine or the people you work with that you think would be important for our audience to know?
- If we were to invite you to Sunday Night Dinner (a tradition in our Italian American family), what of your wines would you bring and why?
- How can people find your wines and follow you (your website, social, etc.)
Outro and How to Find Pascal Marty Owner and Winemaker of Viña Marty 44:42
Thank you very much for listening to our interview with Pascal. What a great person and a great story, and so fascinating to hear his approach to winemaking and his very expansive experiences that he brings to his craft.
Now, in case you are worried about how to find Pascal and Viña Marty, don’t worry, you can find out all of this information on our website thewinepairpodcast.com in our show notes for this episode. But so you have it, here is the information about how to find out more
- Website: https://en.vinamarty.cl/
- Instagram: vinamartychile
- Email: info@vinamarty.cl
You can find his wines at the following as well:
- WASHINGTON (Seattle)
- Rain City Wines
- Ballinger Thriftway
- En algunos restaurantes de sushi en Cap Hill y Wallingford como Kizaku, Momiji & Migoto.
- ARIZONA:
- Mostly restaurants but here is a wineshop:
- FAR AWAY WINE AND PROVISIONS
- 3031 E INDIAN SCHOOL Road, #10
- Phoenix, AZ 85016
- Mostly restaurants but here is a wineshop:
- MARYLAND - DC - DELAWARE (en unos meses)
- Constantine Wines: 9001 Mendenhall Court, Columbia, MD 21045
- MICHIGAN
- On Premise
- Wright & Co. (1500 Woodward Ave., Suite 200. Detroit. MI)
- Bluefin Sushi (18584 Mack Ave. Grosse Pointe Farms, MI)
- Off Premise
- Cantoro´s Market. (15550 North Haggerty Road , Plymouth MI)
- Bridge Street Market. (495 Seward Ave NW, Grand Rapids Mi)
- D&W Fesh Market at west side of Michigan (Pacha)
- On Premise
And, we hope you will subscribe to our podcast The Wine Pair Podcast and follow us on Instagram, and visit our website at thewinepairpodcast.com where you can reach out to us and sign up for our newsletter, and you can also reach out to me at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com if you want more information, and we look forward to hearing from you!
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