Gérald Gabillet

The Path

Cellar discipline at Château Angélus gave Gérald Gabillet an early grounding in the work: patience, precision, and the steadiness to read a wine without rushing it. That training later carried him from Bordeaux to Argentina, where he served as director and head winemaker at Cheval des Andes in Argentina (2018–2025). In that setting, the job asked for control without overstatement, with the vineyard itself remaining part of the brief.

The Work Today

Gabillet’s current approach comes back to essentials: keep the framework clear, and let the grapes show their own balance. As he put it, Pierre-Olivier’s suggestion was to bring some Cheval Blanc ideas into the project and return to its roots, with the aim of allowing the natural balance of the grapes to come through in the wines. The result is a style shaped less by force than by conditions—wines aimed at poise and clarity. The same logic carries into the vineyard. Gabillet described how picking has moved earlier in recent years, especially for Malbec, alongside a reduction in irrigation compared with the past. In his view, that shift brings more intensity and tannins of better quality, with the same effect also applying to Cabernet. It is a practical adjustment, but one that points toward greater definition and lift in the finished wines.

In Their Words “In recent years, we’ve been able to pick the Malbec earlier and earlier. This is partly because we are irrigating much less than in the past. This gives more intensity and better quality of the tannins. The same is true for the Cabernet.” “It was Pierre-Olivier’s idea to apply some Cheval Blanc ideas to what we do. So, we tried to go back to the roots of this project. Ultimately, we want to let the natural balance of the grapes come through in the wines.”