TWO MINUTES WITH | Jean-Guillaume Prats

• What is your ‘last supper’ wine? 
Cos d’Estournel 1982. The vintage was a turning point for Bordeaux, and I can still remember my father [former Cos owner Bruno Prats] going to the Capucins market in Bordeaux to buy ice cubes to cool down the vats. It was a hot year, and we had no temperature control, so the ice was put directly into the vats. Many other estates did the same.

• Where is your dream vineyard? 
Central Otago in New Zealand. I am in awe of the beauty of the whole country, but particularly the serenity of this place and the quality of its terroir –  much of which is still untouched.

• Who is your wine hero? 
The local head of the Communist party in Shangri-La Hunan, China who, in the year 2000, had the vision to replant the vineyards on the side of the Mekong River. He found out that Jesuit missionaries had first developed these vineyards in 1850, creating a new horizon for the local Tibetan farmers (they were then destroyed during the cultural revolution). Today the wines of Shangri-La are among the most sought after in China.

• What’s the next big thing in wine?  
White wines (and more rosé wines) from Provence – from both big, established brands and more terroir-oriented labels.

• What is your favourite wine memory? 
Creating, from a blank sheet of paper, Moët Hennessy’s Chinese winery Ao Yun in Shangri-La in 2013. I visited the place 19 times in five years, and every visit was a lifetime experience.