Clémence de Pourtalès

The Climb

Clémence de Pourtalès trained at ISVV, setting the basis for a career grounded in precision and judgment. That training at ISVV marks the start of a professional path built around structure and technical discipline. It also suggests a practice in which knowledge sharpens perception: the more exact the method, the more clearly the wine can be read. In de Pourtalès’s trajectory, the cellar functions as a place of apprenticeship and accumulation, where observation becomes expertise and where a lasting relationship with wine takes hold.

Today

Her view of Bordeaux drinking is direct: “People should not think that Bordeaux wines should only be tasted when they are ‘old’.” The point is practical, not ornamental. In de Pourtalès’s framing, Bordeaux is not reserved for bottles sealed away until they acquire age and ceremony; it can be approached in the present tense, without a fixed script. That makes the category less rigid and more usable, closer to the everyday life of drinking than to the habits of storage and waiting.

In Their Words “To me, my choice to make a career of winemaking has always been very obvious. I have spent a lot of my life in the cellars.” “In my opinion, wine means friendliness and the desire to share great moments with friends and family.” Taken together, the two remarks describe a profession that moves between cellar work and the table. The first names immersion and discipline; the second names hospitality and exchange. For Clémence de Pourtalès, wine is made with exacting attention and then placed in a social setting, where it serves connection, celebration, and shared time.