Meet Annabelle Grellier, Commercial and Marketing Director of Château d’Yquem

After two decades spent roaming the capital, Annabelle Grellier has returned to the Southwest where she was born; originally from Cognac, where her parents are vineyard workers, she left the region at 18 to pursue her studies. Several experiences within luxury houses have given her a great sensitivity to the “essential artisanal dimension,” as she never ceases to marvel “at how the hand of man can enhance and shape a raw material.”

It was at Château Palmer, in Margaux-Cantenac, that she entered the world of wine and never left it. Now the Marketing and Sales Director at Yquem, her return to her roots seems natural, with the desire to be amidst the vines again, “to feel a real connection to nature and the seasons, like a vital need to rediscover my roots.” Especially since Yquem knows, better than any other estate, how to nourish her imagination and stimulate her appetite for history, “spanning several centuries, with inspiring characters like the incredible Joséphine d’Yquem.” She still remembers her first tasting of Yquem, unforgettable: “I felt such emotion discovering the depth and complexity of its aromas. This wine was both astonishingly light and infinitely long, it was a considerable shock.” This is where Yquem’s power lies: in a few sips, being overwhelmed by the breadth of history, grasping the passage of time, and suspending it for a moment. Thanks to the communion between craftsmanship and the miracle of nature, which in Sauternes takes on a singular brilliance: “our mission is to defend the wines of noble rot and the beauty of Botrytis cinerea, this fungus that transforms grape berries into a true nectar.” A miracle that Annabelle now witnesses from the front row.