Michel Friou

The Path

Training at Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Montpellier provided Michel Friou with the formal base for his approach before he moved into professional cellar work. He then became head winemaker at Casa Lapostolle in Chile's Rapel Valley (1994–2004), a decade that marked an important stretch of his evolution. From there, he served as winemaker at Baron Philippe de Rothschild Chile (2004–2007), continuing to deepen his experience in one of the country’s most closely watched wine contexts. Since 2007, Michel has been winemaker of Viña Almaviva, where his career continues today. That appointment placed him at Puente Alto, where the demands of the estate met a preference for continuity, precision, and gradual refinement rather than dramatic reinvention.

The Work Today

At the Puente Alto winery, his first vintage was the 2007 Viña Almaviva, made after he was hired. Michel Friou described that year’s balance with understated surprise: “It’s a surprise, since 2007 was not a warm year.” The line reflects a winemaker attentive to nuance, and to the way a season can resist easy assumptions while still yielding poise. His stated aim began with continuity — “My first goal will be to maintain the quality level already acquired by the wine” — then extended into a longer program of care and calibration: “[Then] to improve it every year, expressing at its best the natural potential of this unique terroir.” The language stays plain, but the intent is exacting: hold the standard in place, then keep drawing out what the site can still show.

Signature

Michel's signature wines include Almaviva, 2007 Viña Almaviva, and Clos Apalta. Taken together, they trace a career shaped by notable estates and by steady attention to the identity of each bottle.

In Their Words “My first goal will be to maintain the quality level already acquired by the wine.” “It’s a surprise, since 2007 was not a warm year.”

Acclaim

The 2007 wine is the defining bottle attached to his arrival: his first vintage at the estate, made from a year he characterized as surprisingly balanced despite its cooler conditions. It stands as a concise marker of Michel Friou’s tenure at Viña Almaviva — not as a declaration, but as a careful beginning, shaped by restraint, attention, and the promise of improvement carried forward over time.