News
Wearing two hats
by Rosi Hanson
Can you successfully pursue two careers simultaneously? It is a little-known fact that Burgundian Jean-Marc Roulot has been doing so since 1989. On the one hand he is an actor. His thespian life embraces stage, film and TV. Jean-Marc is at the same time a noted white wine maker, with vines in some of the best Meursault premier cru and village appellations. Many readers will know the wines of Domaine Roulot, seen on top restaurant wine-lists around the world.
This thoughtful actor-wine maker has managed to juggle the two roles, making sure that he is not on tour or in front of a camera when needed in the winery. Vigneron colleagues are often unaware of the acting, and vice versa. But early in 2011 key moments in both these careers nearly clashed.
This was period of drama in his wine life. Vineyards in Burgundy’s Cote d’Or are rarely for sale, and when they are, tiny amounts of land are exchanged for very large sums of money. A merchant in Nuits St. Georges decided to sell off a parcel of vines, comprising 7 hectares in Meursault appellations, a working vat-house and accompanying house.
When Jean-Marc heard on the grape-vine (almost literally in this case) that this was in the wind he knew it was an opportunity - maybe the only one in his lifetime – to acquire more land, including a plot next to his existing holding in Meursault Premier Cru Les Boucheres, that he couldn’t miss.
His first step was to talk in strict confidence to his near neighbour Dominique Lafon. Could they do a deal? Months of behind the scenes negotiating, and probably some sleepless nights, followed. Jean-Marc and Dominique, who have known each other since childhood, were able to sort out amicably who would have which slices of this particularly desirable cake, and work discreetly to put in place the necessary finances. When it was recently announced that Jean-Marc Roulot and Dominique Lafon, two of the most universally respected Meursault growers, have been able to enlarge their family domaines it was good news for lovers of fine white Burgundy.
But as news broke about the acquisition, instead of celebrating at home, Jean-Marc was quickly donning his acting hat and boarding a train to Paris for the Press Showing of a new feature film, Rio Sex Comedy, made in Brazil and directed by Jonathan Nossiter, in which he has a big role. You may have seen Nossiter’s documentary, Mondovino, which went behind the scenes in the wine world, to the amusement of some, and fury of others.
Switching hats, or changing worlds, has become second nature to Jean-Marc. He appears to take it in his stride, but it was not always so. Growing up in a wine family in one of the most famous regions it must seem like a rejection to choose another career, but the theatre was a strong calling from childhood. In the normal run of things, there would have been no question in his mind but to make his life on the boards. However, in 1983, while he was still studying at the Conservatoire in Paris, his father Guy died, tragically young.
With a regisseur appointed to run the domaine, Jean-Marc tried to immerse himself in his acting career, although returning home regularly to help at key moments in the year. But by the age of 33, he found he could not be detached from the life he had grown up with. He began to feel that the domaine was like a restaurant where the patron was absent. He had, he says, a “crise de conscience” about what Meursault meant to him. He decided he must return to take his father’s place, with the help of his sister Michele and his mother, and with his father’s old team still in place.
There was one condition - he would not stop acting, although he did not know how he would manage this.
“It was a frightening moment” he says. He feared that he had had it, that his life as an actor was finished. The first work offered after this, a small role in the film “Un Week-end” directed by Nicol Garcia, made him so happy, reassuring him that it was possible to combine two careers. After that offers continued to come in. A good role in Moliere’s Le Misanthrope, played in Dijon at the other end of the Cote d’Or meant he could work mornings at the domaine, afternoons in Dijon for rehearsals or evening performances, getting home at about midnight. Then a TV film, and one thing led to another.
In a gathering of growers does this actor stand out? It’s only a subtle difference, but he will be the one with the rather well cut jeans, a stylish casual jacket, and, possibly, depending on the role he’s playing, carefully tended designer stubble. Although he has tried to separate his lives rigorously, there is crossover. The winemaking and the performances both have an analytical, reflective quality. The village appellations - wines like Meursault Les Luchets or Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir – are vinified separately with as much attention to detail and origin as the Premiers Crus – Les Charmes, Les Boucheres, Les Perrieres. The care taken in reflecting the diversity of soils is echoed in the way he prepares for his roles. On stage it seems effortless, but preparation has been the key.
Looking back to his 30s, Jean-Marc says at the time he didn’t know how he could express himself in wine. “Wine was something given, or proposed, to me, but acting is what I sought out for myself.” It was in the 1990s, when suddenly he was giving tastings of wines he had made himself, that a new dimension was added. Since then he has evolved, both as an actor and as a winemaker. “Now it would be impossible for me to give up wine-making,” he says happily. “It is a wonderful thing to have two metiers”. At the moment his main concern is that if any of his Burgundian friends see his new film he will get a lot of ragging –he spends most of it in his underpants.
Rosi Hanson
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