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Château Beauséjour: entering a new era
The dramatic sale of Bordeaux Château Beauséjour in 2021 caused ripples in Bordeaux when it unfolded – two prestigious Bordeaux vineyards vying to buy the estate were pipped to the post at the eleventh hour by a last-minute bid, which kept the estate in the family hands while paving the way for a renaissance. Three years on, winemaker Joséphine Duffau-Lagarosse speaks to Arabella Mileham about her ambitions for the estate, its revamped winery and the new era that is beckoning.
Speaking to the drinks business recently Joséphine Duffau-Lagarosse, ninth generation of the Duffau-Lagarrosse family who have farmed the estate since 1847, explains that buying back the family estate with investment from xxx has proved a huge opportunity…
Although the estate was family-owned and run by Duffau-Lagarosse’s father as the estate manager, over time the ownership had become divided among multiple cousins, many of whom no longer living in the region (or even in France). It was, she says, with considerable understatement, “hard to manage an estate with 32 owners” especially as the majority tended to view it as something that paid them a dividend at the end of the year, rather than being invested in the life of the estate, or the the wines themselves.
The collective decision to sell up was therefore a “very difficult” one for Josephine, who she was not working at the estate at the time, her father who managed the estate and her sister who all lived in the Right Bank.
Philippe Cuvelier, owner of Clos Fourtet, and Stephanie de Boüard-Rivoal of Angelus emerged as the main rival, and it looked like the It looked as though it would be sold to Cuvelier which would see the property continue to be managed by Nicolas Thienpont. However in a chance meeting with Prisca Courtin-Clarins who headed up her family’s investment holding, Clarins Investment Fund (yes, that Clarins), the determined Duffau-Lagarosse found a fellow business women and the two clicked.
“We are the same generation and it was a natural, quick connection, even though we’re from different worlds,” she says. Having taken her father and uncle to see the property, Prisca and the Courtin-Clarin family were sufficiently charmed and excited to invest, submitting a new and ultimately successful offer. Duffau-Lagarrosse, who herself reinvested the proceeds of the sale into the business, became a minority partner, as well as the estate manager and winemaker. She also represents the commercial side of the business and has big plans to further enhance the already rising reputation of the estate.
As Mathew O’Connell of Bordeaux Index noted, the chateau has seen some great vintages over the last twenty years. “The 100-point RP vintages of 1990, 2009 and 2010 are always in demand but outside of these, the chateau remains somewhat under the radar,” he told db.
However, the change of ownership, the investments in a new vat room and the undoubted quality of the estate’s terroir – as well as Duffau-Lagarosse’s vision – influenced by her Burgundian connections – “promise an exciting future”, he noted.
At only 6.8ha, it is one of the smallest estate in Saint-Emilion, and “more Burgundy in size”, according to Duffau-Lagarrosse, who admits that it is the ethos of Burgundy that has most influenced her as a winemaker. (Having started her winemaking career in 2011, she has gained experience working in Napa, New Zealand, Burgundy, Mexico and Bordeaux).
“In Burgundy, there are no blends, so a very precise extraction is all you can do, you have fewer options to improve your wine. When they have only 20 hectolitres of Grand Cru, they have to be precise,” she explains.
And Château Beauséjour is already on the road to greater precision. This started with a small but carefully thought out restructure in the vineyard which saw half a hectare of Merlot replanted with Cabernet France. This is part of Duffau- Lagarosse’s “very specific idea ” of rebalancing the wines, changing the proportion of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard and the blend in order to maintain the wine’s pure aromas and balance, particularly in the face of global warning. However she is keen to keep Cabernet Franc below a maximum of 35%. “We want to rebalance the wine, as Merlot can be a bit too alcoholic and heavy – but if I do any more it will change the style of the wine and the soul of Beauséjour,” she explains.
Other changes include “little by little changes” to the pruning regime but the biggest advance lies in the new winery, which has increased the number of concrete vats from 9 to 16. Although this does increase the volume by around 10%, it has been done primarily to increase the precision of the wines.
“Under my father and grandfather, we did more parcellaire selection, now we do inter-parcellaire selection,” she explains. “We have differences within the parcels and wanted to vinify them separately.”
Aesthetically, the new winery is “great”, she says – the landscape of the estate is etched across the vats themselves – while “technically, it’s amazing”
“I love working with concrete, because of the purity and consistency of the temperature,” she explains.
The Burgundy influence can also be seen in her attention to the cooperage, using two Burgundian coopers.
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