Most chateaux in the Bordeaux region of France change hands often. So, the Miailhe family's ability to maintain ownership of Ch*teau Siran for 150 years is a noteworthy feat.

The family is one of Bordeaux's oldest and most respected wine merchants and one of that region's prominent proprietors. The Siran estate, which the family bought in 1859, was the first of several estates the family acquired.

At the Commanderie de Bordeaux Jakarta Chapter dinner held on Jan. 23, 2009 at the Park Lane Hotel's Riva bistro in Jakarta to celebrate the family's 150 years of successful stewardship, I talked to owner Edouard Miailhe.

He took over the management of the property from his parents, Brigitte and William-Alain Miailhe, in 2007. Here is an excerpt of our conversation.

Congratulations! Maintaining ownership for 150 years is a rare feat indeed.

Well, there are two other families in the M*doc region (the most important region in Bordeaux with individual appellations) who have been able to hold on to their vineyards as long as we have.

The Rothschild family has owned Ch*teau Mouton Rothschild since 1853. The Barton family has owned Ch*teau L*oville-Barton since 1836.

What's the secret of your family's long-standing success with the estate and its winery?

By buying and selling some other properties and partnering with others to share the management and operating costs during the difficult 1920s and 1930s *the Great Depression* in Europe.

While managing to hold on to Siran, our family has actually bought and sold other properties.

In 1925, for example, my grandfather and his brother bought an estate, Ch*teau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, which my aunt, *May Eliane de Lencquesaing*, sold two years ago to a Champagne house *Louis Roederer*.

In 1938 the two brothers acquired a 25 percent stake in Ch*teau Palmer, which they later sold.

Our family also used our assets in the Philippines, not only to cope with the difficult times after World War II but also to buy a property in the 1960s, Ch*teau Dauzac, which was later sold.

Assets in the Philippines?

My great grandfather went to Ireland to sell wines, where he met and married a wealthy Irish woman who had a lot of real estate in the Philippines.

Her assets in the Philippines helped the family get through the difficult times in the 1930s and 1940s when no wine was produced and in the 1950s and 1960s when we made no wine in the bad years.

Why did you produce no wine in the bad years?

Because at that time, we didn't know how to produce good enough wines to sell in bad years and we didn't want to take the risk of incurring losses. Since the 1970s we have managed to produce profitable wines every year thanks to advances in winemaking technology and improvements in marketing.

What about the current global economic crisis? Are you feeling the pinch?

Of course, as everyone else is. This time, our strategy is to adopt tighter cost controls and lower our prices. Over the last eight years wine has been in great demand worldwide but nowadays people spend less on wine. So, we offer Siran wines as very good value-for-money wines. Our wines are very inexpensive compared to wines from the top-end ch*teaux in Bordeaux.

Early this month I met a French winemaker who produces New World-styled wine to woo the international market. Winemakers in Languedoc are also known for this proclivity. What about you?

Siran is not going to do that. The Bordeaux region is not going to do that. The largest market for Bordeaux wines is still Europe. People in the know look for what is typical for Bordeaux.

Hasn't Michel Rolland been Siran's consultant?

(Dubbed as an agent of wine globalization, Michel Rolland is an influential Bordeaux-based oenologist. His signature style is fruit-heavy and oak-influenced - a preference shared by influential critic Robert Parker and many wine aficionados.)

Yes, from 1997 to 2003. Since then he has been replaced by Denis Dubourdieu.

Why?

I don't know. It was my father's decision. Perhaps because Denis is more traditional and more terroir-oriented in his approach so he continues to respect the style of the M*doc.

Siran was among the nine Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel (the best after the top five classed growths in an 1855 classification) in the 2003 classification, which was annulled in 2007. What's your comment on this?

Of course we are not happy. We actually deserve even a better category . since we were not part of the 1855 classification .

Are you implying that Siran could have ranked well in the 1855 classification?

No. The 1855 classification is final. Siran was never considered because *then owner* Toulouse-Lautrec was so wealthy he did not think his wine would need any further classification to sell well, so he did not put Siran forward for inclusion.

-- Arif Suryobuwono

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