Château Dauzac

The earliest known owner in this area of Margaux is Pétrus d’Auzac, who received the land in 1190 from Richard the Lionheart. In 1545 the Benedictine monks of Sainte-Croix Abbey in Bordeaux described the Dauzac estate in their records as a ‘Bourdieu’, a country house with a vineyard. In 1685 Pierre Drouillard, a Bordeaux wine merchant and Treasurer General of France, made Dauzac one of the finest wine estates in the Médoc. Count Jean-Baptiste Lynch inherited Dauzac from his father Thomas-Michel Lynch in 1783; Napoleon appointed him mayor of Bordeaux and later, in 1810, named him Count of the Empire, which gave rise to the nickname ‘Count of Dauzac’. For two decades around 1855 the Wiebroock family established Château Dauzac as one of the Médoc’s finest wines, and the 1855 Classification placed it among the Fifth Growths. In 1924 the Johnstons, who also owned Ducru-Beaucaillou, took over and introduced the first yellow label. In 1939 Mr Bernat, owner of Glacières Bernat, purchased the estate and placed blocks of ice in the vats to regulate fermentation temperature, a first step towards thermoregulation used from 1940. After the Miailhe and Chatellier families, MAIF, a French insurance company, became sole owner in 1989 and built a new gravity-flow cellar in 2004. Under MAIF, André Lurton was engaged as manager four years after the insurer took over. Laurent Fortin was appointed Managing Director in 2013. In 2020 the Roulleau family purchased Château Dauzac, making it once again a family-owned estate.

• 1190: Pétrus d’Auzac, the earliest known owner, received the land from Richard the Lionheart.
• 1545: the Benedictine monks of Sainte-Croix Abbey recorded the estate as a ‘Bourdieu’.
• 1855: classified a Fifth Growth.
• 1924: the Johnstons took over and introduced the first yellow label.
• 1989: MAIF became sole owner; 2020: purchased by the Roulleau family.

In 1884 Alexis Millardet, with the help of the estate manager Ernest David, developed bouillie bordelaise, or Bordeaux mixture, at Dauzac: a mixture of copper sulphate and quicklime used against mildew. Château Dauzac’s own history credits it with having saved the Bordeaux vineyards from mildew. Decanter likewise records the copper sulphate treatment as first tried out at Dauzac.

• 1884: Alexis Millardet and estate manager Ernest David developed Bordeaux mixture at Dauzac.
• Bordeaux mixture combines copper sulphate and quicklime.

The estate’s site names Laurent Fortin as Managing Director; he has been in charge of Château Dauzac since early 2013. Cécilia Trimaille joined as Technical Director in January 2022, having previously worked at Château Margaux. Eric Boissenot, an oenologist, advises on the harvest and blending. As of July 2023, Romain Mercier, who arrived in February 2023, was Technical Director Assistant in charge of the vineyard. In 2014 Laurent Fortin and then Technical Director Philippe Roux worked with the Seguin Moreau cooperage to create the estate’s first wooden vats with two transparent staves.

• Managing Director: Laurent Fortin, in charge since early 2013.
• Technical Director: Cécilia Trimaille, since January 2022.
• Consultant oenologist: Eric Boissenot, for the harvest and blending.
• Technical Director Assistant in charge of the vineyard (as of July 2023): Romain Mercier, who arrived in February 2023.

Château Dauzac has a single, contiguous 49-hectare vineyard 350 metres from the Gironde estuary: 45 hectares in the Margaux appellation and 4 in the Haut-Médoc appellation. The terroir is a deep gravel outcrop; its layers of gravel of varying thickness are vestiges of ancient alluvial terraces and sit on a clayey, gravelly subsoil. The vineyard sits within a 120-hectare property of vines, meadows and woodland, and Cécilia Trimaille notes that only 40% of the estate is devoted to vineyards. The vineyard is planted to 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare, with Double Guyot pruning and disbudding. Surveys, cross-sections three metres deep and electrical resistivity tests were used to identify homogeneous plots, and meteorological sensors on each terroir unit and a weather station guide the work. The estate uses organic fertilisers, controls cutworms ecologically without insecticides, and has grassed some plots to regulate the water supply. Sheep graze in the park and beehives stand next to the main building.

• 49 hectares in one block, 350 metres from the Gironde estuary: 45 ha Margaux, 4 ha Haut-Médoc.
• Deep gravel over ancient alluvial terraces, on a clayey, gravelly subsoil.
• 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot; 10,000 vines per hectare; Double Guyot pruning.
• Organic fertilisers, ecological cutworm control without insecticides, and grassed plots.

Grapes are harvested by hand in small crates and sorted on tables before and after de-stemming. Each plot is vinified separately in thermoregulated vats, and a gravity-flow cellar supplies the fermentation room. Since 2014 the estate has used wooden vats with two transparent staves, designed by Seguin Moreau at Château Dauzac’s request. In 2016 the estate acquired expertise in selecting and multiplying indigenous yeasts from its own vineyards, used in fermentation. For the grand vin, fermentation takes place at 28°C in the wooden vats with transparent staves, followed by malolactic fermentation and 15 months in French oak barrels, 65% of them new. The estate says it is the first 1855 Grand Cru Classé to produce 100% vegan wines, since 2016, using vegetal proteins instead of egg white for fining.

• Hand harvest in small crates; sorting before and after de-stemming; plot-by-plot vinification.
• Wooden vats with two transparent staves since 2014, designed by Seguin Moreau.
• 2016: expertise acquired in selecting and multiplying indigenous yeasts from the estate's vineyards.
• Grand vin: 15 months in French oak, 65% new barrels.

The estate wines are Château Dauzac, Franc de Pied, Aurore de Dauzac, Labastide Dauzac and Haut-Médoc de Dauzac. Château Dauzac, the grand vin, comes from a 42-hectare production area of deep gravel with an average vine age of 35 to 40 years; the 2022 blend is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Merlot. In 2017 the estate replanted a plot with ungrafted Cabernet Sauvignon vines from massal selections of its best vines. The 2021 vintage marked the first harvest of grapes from Franc de Pied vines grown under massal selection. Franc de Pied is 100% ungrafted Cabernet Sauvignon from 55 ares, fermented and aged in dolia for 15 to 18 months. Aurore de Dauzac is a single vineyard on the far eastern side of the estate; in 1670 the plot was already described as the ‘rising sun vines’. Labastide Dauzac comes from gravelly, clay-dominated plots and is aged 12 months in barrel. Haut-Médoc de Dauzac comes from the estate’s 4-hectare Haut-Médoc vineyard on gravel ridges, planted to 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot. The branded wines are D de Dauzac red and white, CoMte de Dauzac and Bacchus de Dauzac. D de Dauzac red is produced from terroirs other than those of Margaux; CoMte de Dauzac echoes Count Jean-Baptiste Lynch, and Bacchus de Dauzac pays tribute to the Benedictine monks of Sainte-Croix Abbey.

• Estate wines: Château Dauzac, Franc de Pied, Aurore de Dauzac, Labastide Dauzac, Haut-Médoc de Dauzac.
• Franc de Pied: 100% ungrafted Cabernet Sauvignon, first vintage 2021, aged in dolia.
• Branded wines: D de Dauzac red and white, CoMte de Dauzac, Bacchus de Dauzac.

Château Dauzac has embarked on a decarbonisation process across the whole estate, beginning with a pilot cuvée, Cuvée Yellow. In 2023 the estate chose Bioboon Agrology as its exclusive partner for treating the plot dedicated to its carbon-neutral wine. In 2024 the estate opened La Chartreuse de Dauzac and La Boulangerie, a hospitality project in Margaux.

• Estate-wide decarbonisation, beginning with a pilot cuvée, Cuvée Yellow.
• 2024: La Chartreuse de Dauzac and La Boulangerie opened.

Château Dauzac describes its grand vin as one in which ‘Cabernet Sauvignon dominates with its complexity, elegance and minerality, while Merlot adds roundness and silkiness.’ It presents Château Dauzac as a wine that expresses deep gravel terroirs, with ‘a nicely complex bouquet which slowly unfolds during aeration.’ The estate’s note on the 2022 calls it ‘both powerful and silky’, with crisp red fruit on the attack and a full, velvety palate.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/the-property/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/the-vineyard/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/know-how/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/the-wines/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/chateau-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/labastide-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/franc-de-pied/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/haut-medoc-de-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/aurore-de-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/romain-passionate-since-childhood/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/d-de-dauzac-red/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/comte-de-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/vins/bacchus-de-dauzac/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/contact-details-directions/, https://www.chateaudauzac.com/en/a-sustainable-partnership-for-a-carbon-neutral-wine/. Secondary sources: Decanter (8 January 2019; travel listing last updated 28 May 2015) and Wine Spectator (1855 Classification, 27 March 2019). Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-10-19