WLC meets: Francis Mallmann

What is your approach to food and wine matching?

Some things really don’t work – like asparagus and red wine, but besides that, choosing a wine is all about the moment – am I by the beach, am I falling in love – that’s the beauty of food and wine matching. Harmony in food is for toddlers. For grown ups I find it so boring. Obviously I enjoy a steak with a red wine, but I think we should be more adventurous, and I love to have clashes in my mouth when I eat.

Opposites are very important in life, which for me extends to food and wine. I love pairing Montes Outer Limits Sauvignon Blanc with steak – I love that combination – it’s a delicious wine with the salt of the sea air from where the grapes grow within it.

Would you like to make your own wine one day?

I have six hectares of vineyards planted at 1,600 metres altitude in the Uco Valley in Mendoza and the plan is to make my own wine. For the time being I’m selling the grapes to wineries. If I do then I’d like to build a tiny winery. I’ve planted a lot of different varieties – Malbec, Pinot Noir, Carignan, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Barbera.

I’ve planted the vines in circles because I think it will bring a balance of the sun’s influence, so when you blend the grapes you’ll have a mixture of different sunlight exposure, instead of some grapes getting all the sun and others nothing.

Chefs and painters practice their trade every day. A good winemaker is lucky if he can make 60 vintages in his lifetime. It’s quite incredible how slow a game wine is. I love the patience and the risk involved in winemaking. It’s incredible what they do.

Why is freedom so important to you?

Freedom is the most beautiful right we have and I find it extends to love. In order to maintain a relationship for a long time we have to have freedom and be open to things as things in life happen and I think freedom within a relationship makes things better.

But it’s a personal choice. It is when you let them go that you really show your love. If you believe in your love and accept that the other person has an adventure, it’s so healthy and brings more love to the relationship.

Silence is the most beautiful thing in love – when you can sit with someone on a chair outside in comfortable silence and spend hours without talking.

What is it that you most enjoy?

I write a newspaper column for La Nación in Argentina every week and it’s what I most enjoy in life right now. I don’t talk about religion or politics but I write about pretty much everything else, from food to love. My latest column was about the birth of my newborn daughter called Alba, which means ‘dawn’ in Spanish.

Words are one of our biggest assets because they improve with age and we can take them everywhere with us. I have thousands of poetry books at home and love everyone from Edgar Allen Poe, W.H. Auden and TS Elliot to James Joyce DH Lawrence, Lord Byron and Borges.

Does complacency kill creativity?

Yes! Living at the edge of uncertainly brings meaning to life. You’re not going to grow much as a person if you’re sitting in a comfy chair all day long. You become like an object. If you’re moving and trying and switching paths then you’re progressing.

The two worst enemies we have are routine and fear. They are two things that paralyse us. I hate schools for that reason – I used to bring a pillow to class and sleep through my lessons. I left school when I was 13 and never went back.

You travel so much, do you live a rootless existence?

Patagonia is my home. I don’t have a phone signal there so I can completely switch off. I love its remoteness. It’s the language that lives inside of me. I love the intense weather – the rain, the snow, the storms. I love sunshine, but in order to appreciate it you need the clouds too.

Do you have to be selfish in order to fulfill your own potential?

You have to believe in yourself in order to live a good life, and if you believe in yourself then you are by default a bit selfish. I’ve lived quite selfishly. There are certain things you have to do in life. We all have a path and we have to follow it. I don’t believe in the idea of giving up on your own dreams for someone else’s. You go for your dreams, I’ll go for mine, lets share them in whatever way we can.

Are you happy at the moment?

Yes. I’m a very optimistic person, especially at dawn – I have another day to love, to be naughty. I’m happy because I have the freedom of choice every day and it’s so beautiful – I’m so lucky.

Having achieve so much in life, what would you still like to achieve?

I’d love to learn how to play the piano. I’m buying a Steinway grand piano soon and I plan to study how to play. I play guitar every day and sing along with it but I’d love to be able to sing along with the piano.

Does cooking still inspire you – is the magic still there?

Yes, very much. Especially when I’m outside – not so much when I’m in the kitchen.

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