Château Marquis d'Alesme

François d'Alesme, squire and advisor to King Henri III at the Bordeaux Parliament, created the estate in 1585. In 1616 the vineyards appeared and the cru was registered for the first time; the estate passed down through the d'Alesme family, who were also Bordeaux parliamentarians in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century Pierre-Vincent de Paule, Marquis d'Alesme, a high-ranking Bordeaux nobleman, focused on making the estate famous. In 1810 the Dutch merchant Jean Bekker-Teerlink (d. 1832), who had travelled between China and Europe for the Dutch East India Company, purchased the estate; he Germanicised his name as 'Becker' and added it to the estate name, which became Marquis d'Alesme-Becker. His heirs sold the estate to the Sznajderski family in 1853. The 1855 classification, published on April 18, 1855 at the request of Napoleon III, recognised Château Marquis d'Alesme-Becker as a Third Growth, and the Louis XIII style château was built on the estate in 1859. In 1889 Mr Sznajderski's son-in-law Arthur de Gassowski (d. 1911), a naturalist painter, took over the estate. In 1919 it became the property of Count Jean-Jules Théophile Chaix-d'Est-Ange, a lawyer who owned Château Lascombes; his adopted son Count Emmanuel de Bourg de Bozas later sold it to the Scottish wine merchants W.H. Chaplin & Co. Ltd., owners of Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry. In 1938 Edmond Ritz, a mining engineer from Alsace, purchased the estate, and his grandson Jean-Claude Zuger took over its management in 1979 and built new cellars with a capacity of 250 barrels. In 2006 Hubert Perrodo (d. 2006), the founder of the oil group Perenco, who had purchased Château Labégorce in 1989, bought the estate, while the house remained the property of the Ritz-Zuger family. His daughter Nathalie Perrodo then took over the property, with plans for the estate to drop 'Becker' from its name and continue to exist separately from Labégorce.

• 1585: created by François d'Alesme; 1616: the cru was registered for the first time.
• 1810: purchased by Jean Bekker-Teerlink, who added 'Becker' to the name; 1853: sold by his heirs to the Sznajderski family.
• 1855: classified a Third Growth; 1859: the Louis XIII style château was built.
• 1919: Count Jean-Jules Théophile Chaix-d'Est-Ange; 1938: Edmond Ritz, whose grandson Jean-Claude Zuger took over management in 1979.
• 2006: purchased by Hubert Perrodo (d. 2006); his daughter Nathalie Perrodo then took over the property.

The estate is owned by the Perrodo family and led by Nathalie Perrodo Samani, daughter of Hubert Perrodo, alongside General Director Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck. Nathalie Perrodo appointed Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck general director of Domaines Perrodo in 2010. The Perrodo-Samani family also owns Château Labégorce in Margaux. Michel Rolland was consultant oenologist for the 2015, 2016 and 2018 vintages.

• Owner: the Perrodo family, led by Nathalie Perrodo Samani.
• General Director: Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck, appointed general director of Domaines Perrodo in 2010.
• Consultant oenologist for the 2015, 2016 and 2018 vintages: Michel Rolland.

The vineyard covers 15 hectares in AOC Margaux. Its soils are 40% gravelly-siliceous, 40% marly-siliceous and 20% clay and limestone, exposed on natural gentle slopes, and the weather is mild thanks to the nearby Gironde estuary. The Cabernet varieties make up 70% of plantings (63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc), with Merlot at 30%. Planting density is 10,000 vines per hectare and the average age of the vineyard is 40 years. Few of the vines lie next to the cellars in the village; most of the Labégorce and Marquis d'Alesme vineyards are gathered around Château Labégorce, around the D2 road, or in Soussans.

• 15 hectares in AOC Margaux on gravelly-siliceous, marly-siliceous and clay and limestone soils.
• 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.
• 10,000 vines per hectare; average vine age 40 years.

The estate practises sustainable vine-growing inspired by the principles of organic farming and biodynamics. Vineyard tasks are scheduled with attention to the lunar calendar, and the vineyard manager plants varied cover plants on fallow land, sets up beehives and nesting boxes in the surrounding woodland, and identifies auxiliary fauna in the vineyards such as wild bees, butterflies, nesting birds and bats. Work with the INRA agricultural research institute and nurserymen has helped select the most suitable plants for each plot. Vines are pruned double Guyot. Harvest is by hand in 10 kg crates, with sorting in the vineyard and in the winery, and the grapes are gravity-fed into the vats. Vinification takes place in wooden and stainless steel flattened cone-shaped vats of 80 hl, and the wine is aged in French oak barrels. Average production was 5,500 cases a year at the 2018 vintage.

• Sustainable vine-growing inspired by organic farming and biodynamics, scheduled with attention to the lunar calendar.
• Hand harvest in 10 kg crates, sorting in the vineyard and the winery, gravity-fed vats.
• Wooden and stainless steel flattened cone-shaped vats of 80 hl; ageing in French oak barrels.

The estate's technical sheets cover the Château Marquis d'Alesme vintages from 2009 to 2018. Its blend varies with the vintage: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot in 2010; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot in 2015; 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc in 2016; and 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc in 2018. The 2010 aged for 15 months in 70% new oak, the 2015 for 20 months and the 2016 and 2018 for 16 months, each of those three in 65% new oak and 35% one-year-old barrels.

• Technical sheets: Château Marquis d'Alesme, 2009 to 2018 vintages.
• Cabernet Sauvignon led every blend recorded here, from 55% (2018) to 70% (2010).

In Decanter's June 2026 reappraisal of the Médoc third growths, Panos Kakaviatos left Marquis d'Alesme's ranking unchanged, writing that the estate 'shows renewal through both technical and experiential investment' and citing cellar renovations completed in 2015 and increased Cabernet Sauvignon plantings.

The estate describes its wines as 'Elegant and refined, often with a bouquet featuring floral and black fruit notes', with 'juicy blackcurrant, blackberry, and blueberry notes alongside well-balanced minerality.' It credits the Cabernets with concentration and structure and Merlot with 'a delicate roundness', and calls the fine tannic structure of Château Marquis d'Alesme 'both powerful and elegant', underlining 'dark berry notes (cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry)'.

Under Nathalie Perrodo work began in 2013 to reinvent the property, with a new vat room, new cellars, a private pavilion, a reception area for wine lovers and a series of gardens. Construction of the complex took five years and involved 23 local companies, and the estate reopened in 2016. The classical exteriors are paired with interiors that allude to the family's Franco-Chinese heritage: dragon-scale motifs on brass balustrades, moon doors leading to the barrel cellars, and an entry-hall ceiling with wicker designs modelled on a motif from the Forbidden City, for which architect Fabien Pédelaborde travelled widely for research. Le Hameau, a rustic farm inspired by the Hamlet built for Queen Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, offers food all day and a wine shop, and the gardens include the Garden of the Senses, the Garden of Contemplation, the Cour des Simples and the Garden of Euphoria. Walks and tastings are open to the public by appointment.

• 2013 to 2016: new vat room, cellars, pavilion, reception area and gardens; the estate reopened in 2016.
• Interiors with dragon-scale motifs, moon doors and a Forbidden City ceiling motif.
• Le Hameau farm, themed gardens and walks and tastings by appointment.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/la-folie-dalesme/a-story/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/wine/a-passion-for-wine/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/wine/science-and-botany/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/wine/a-spirit-of-haute-couture/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/la-folie-dalesme/timeline/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/media/technical-details/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/en/the-promenade/, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/technical_sheet_marquis_dalesme_2018_en.pdf, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/technical_sheet_marquis_dalesme_2016_en.pdf, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/technical_sheet_marquis_dalesme_2015_en_2.pdf, https://www.marquisdalesme.wine/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fiche_technique_marquis_da._2010_gb.pdf. Secondary sources: Decanter (Panos Kakaviatos, 8 June 2026; Labégorce Zédé disappears, last updated 28 May 2015; Peter Richards MW, 3 October 2020) and The Wine Doctor (Château Marquis d'Alesme: Vineyards & Wines). Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.