Master Winemaker 100: Arnaud van der Voorde
The cellar master at Champagne Pannier features in this year’s Master Winemaker 100 guide. He tells db about staying curious, championing Meunier and drawing inspiration from the world’s of gastronomy and music.
Shaped by diverse experiences in the Rhône, Normandy, Jura and Champagne, Arnaud van der Voorde joined the Pannier Champagne house in 2024. He brings expertise not only in still and sparkling wines, but also in spirits. A passionate cellist, Van der Voorde likes to approach his work with the mindset of a conductor, assembling each element with precision and sensitivity to create perfectly balanced cuvées.
A wise person once told me that truly great wine begins with exceptional grapes, and the winemaker’s role is simply to let them speak without embellishment.
A great wine should always stir genuine emotion.
A great winemaker should aspire above all to be a conduit for emotion.
Perfection is something that does not truly exist. Yet the accumulation of countless small decisions, each seemingly insignificant on its own, can collectively guide a wine ever closer to it.
The thing I’d most like to change about the wine world is its tendency to stand still. We must be curious, explore other vineyard regions. We could take inspiration from gastronomy, to which we are so closely connected: great chefs learn from many masters, across different regions or countries, before offering their own interpretation of their craft.
I wish I could tell the consumer who drinks my wine that wine is meant to be shared. Pannier is pleasure and generosity captured in a bottle.
The last time I asked a sommelier for advice was in a restaurant, about the pairing for the dish I had just ordered. I prefer not to choose my own wine when dining out; I like to let the sommelier fully express their craft, without my influence.
A great wine should always stir genuine emotion.
A great winemaker should aspire above all to be a conduit for emotion.
Perfection is something that does not truly exist. Yet the accumulation of countless small decisions, each seemingly insignificant on its own, can collectively guide a wine ever closer to it.
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The thing I’d most like to change about the wine world is its tendency to stand still. We must be curious, explore other vineyard regions. We could take inspiration from gastronomy, to which we are
If I couldn’t be a winemaker, I would be a professional musician. I need to feel emotion – something only art can provoke – and music moves me profoundly. Wine is an art; liqueur-making and blending are the two original artistic expressions of Champagne.
I wish our vineyards of Meunier to be recognised as premier and grand cru. Meunier is not a “fallback” grape variety, and our terroirs are not “peripheral” when planted with Meunier.
My next ambition is to collect and vinify as many Meunier crus separately as possible, then age and mature them individually, in order to enrich our current wine library. We need to provide evidence to support the ambition expressed in the answer to the previous question.
If I won the lottery… It simply would not happen: I am fortunate in love, and therefore unlucky in games. And besides, dreams are essential: too much money makes the unattainable a little too easy.
If there were more hours in the day, we would need a second harvest each year just to work as much as we do now.
When it’s all going wrong, it usually means we have not worked hard enough, or we have not prepared well.
My desert island wine would be one with strong nutritional value; otherwise there would be little point, as wine is meant to be shared. I must admit, I dislike this question.
Arnaud van der Voorde’s Master medals
Pannier Rubis Velours NV, The Global Sparkling Masters 2025
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