flying winemaker

The legendary winemaking consultant left an indelible mark on winemaking in India, pioneering the way wine could be made successfully in a tropical country with no winemaking history

The announcement of the sudden passing of legendary ‘Flying Winemaker’ Michel Rolland at age 78 on 20 March 2026 has seen a deluge of comments and tributes in international media. Rolland, born in Bordeaux, had left his mark in more wine regions around the world than any other winemaker and was renowned as one of the world’s greatest. He became famous for his signature style of wine, which would feature ripe, juicy fruit, elegant tannins, and balanced oak influence. In his time, he consulted for a lengthy list of famous wine estates, from France’s Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Figeac, and Italy’s Ornellaia to the US’s Harlan and Screaming Eagle – an amazing 150 estates in over 14 countries around the world.

But not many are aware of the significant impact Michel Rolland had on India’s wine story.

Rolland was brought to India by Grover Vineyards’ founder-owners, Kanwal and Kapil Grover, as a consultant in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming one of the first famous names from the international wine community to visit India – at a time when wine was a relatively unknown beverage. Even less was known in India about how to grow the grapes and how to make wine from vitis vinifera grapes.

The slate was quite blank.

It might even be said that Rolland laid the foundation of winemaking and viticulture as we know it today in India.

 Rolland and his influence

Karishma Grover, third generation of the Grover family, who went on to become their winemaker before moving to study and work with wine in the US, recalls the early influence Rolland had on her.

“When I first met Michel, I was around 16 years old, still figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. Becoming a winemaker was one option given my family history, so I would shadow Michel when he came down to Bengaluru on his 5-day visits to oversee the blending. You might say (and I regret never mentioning this to him) that he is the reason I am in the wine industry today,” Karishma told me over the phone from the US.

Despite being a renowned winemaker, Rolland would spend most of his time in their Bengaluru vineyards. “Michel did a lot with viticulture here. In France, viticulture was very different – the soils were dry, and the vine roots go down deep – this would impact vineyard management. In India, it was the opposite. Our soils were rich, and so canopy management was quite different. We knew how to grow (table) grapes for many years, but not how to make wine. And he would defer to local expertise.

“Michel was an expert – but he didn’t hold Bordeaux or Napa as the gold standard for India. He was pragmatic. And he made things easy for everyone to understand. The vineyard must be in balance to make good wine, he would say. Michel brought the rich fruit-driven Bordeaux-style blends to India and put Grover Vineyards on the world map.” This style immediately drew consumer interest, and other producers, following in succession to the Grover story, also followed his teachings.

Spending time with Michel Rolland, and his wife Dany, who would accompany him, was fantastic, Karishma adds. “He loved food of all kinds and embraced Indian cuisine. He also loved pairing Grover Vineyards wines with whatever he ate in India. When we went out, we only drank Grover wines. His commitment was a 360 degree one – he did far more than just blending. Making wine was an end-to-end experience for him.”

Decades later, Karishma acknowledges the learning that those five days a year with Michel gave her. “Those are lessons I think about even today.”

Viticulture is key

Manjunath VG, Vice President Vineyards, Grover Vineyards, recalls encounters with Rolland during his early travels to India. This was usually in early February/ March, around harvest.

“Thirty years ago, things were very basic for Indian wine – we were just learning the first steps of viticulture and winemaking,” he recalls, “For Michel too, exposure to tropical viticulture was relatively new. But with his expertise and background, he would counsel us on everything – from VSP training systems, soil, and aspects of vineyards, fruit to canopy ratio, homogeneity of vineyard soils, the need to curtail high yields – there was very little known about these aspects of viticulture at the time. Eventually, he handed over the charge to Julien Viaud from his team, who still consults with us.”

 Grover La Réserve, a Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon, still proudly carries Michel Rolland’s signature on the bottle. In 2005, it made headlines when renowned wine expert Steven Spurrier, another well-wisher of India, rated La Réserve as the ‘Best New World Wine’ in Decanter magazine.

Today, La Réserve is part of an expanding portfolio of Grover wines and has won multiple international medals in competitions.

 “Something Big…” India’s Viognier story

I had some lasting memories of Michel Rolland myself. At the time, I was a mainstream journalist with a national daily developing a new interest in writing on wine. Meeting Rolland was a revelation: his was an arresting personality. I recall meeting him with Kapil Grover one evening at ITC Windsor’s club lounge; both had an air of suppressed excitement about them. “Something big is being planned, and we will announce it soon – a new grape, never trialled before on Indian soil. We are very confident about the outcome of the wines that it will produce,” Rolland told me.

That grape was Viognier, and Grover Vineyards went on to become the only successful producer of wine from the rich, fragrant white grape of the Rhone, showcased first in their premium Vijay Amritraj white wine. They remain pioneers in making Viognier-based wines in India even today.

Manjunath continues, “At the time, we were experimenting with multiple international grape varieties, with no idea which would succeed in India’s climate or soils. We tried Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and more. And while they grew, Michel dissuaded us from adding the wines to our portfolio. He would explain that the wines would need to display distinct varietal character. ‘These are not up to the mark. Let’s stick to grapes that suit the Indian climate.’” They follow his advice even today.

Manjunath laughs as he recalls what Grover investor and former chairman Ravi Vishwanathan would say about him. “Manjunath is the only person to have trained under two of the world’s greatest winemakers of our times – Michel Rolland and Stéphane Derenoncourt.”

Over time, as Rolland visited India less and his team took over responsibilities, there were fewer opportunities to talk to him and understand how he thought wine in India was progressing. In December, I missed meeting him when he visited 67 Pall Mall in London to host a member tasting of his multi-continent Bordeaux blend, Pangaea, which brings together Bordeaux grapes from five different countries in one blend. I would have loved to have met him again, tasted his wine, and listened to his opinions.

Lead image: The Rolland Collection. Other images courtesy Karishma Grover and Manjunath VG