Château Marquis de Terme

On December 16, 1762, François de Péguilhan, Marquis de Terme, married Élisabeth de Ledoulx; her dowry provided the land on which the estate was built, and the wine produced on these lands took the name Marquis de Terme. The land came from the same ancient estate that gave rise to the two Second Growth Margaux châteaux Rauzan-Ségla and Rauzan-Gassies. The estate's own history records that Thomas Jefferson, during his visit to Bordeaux in 1787 as U.S. ambassador to France, cited Marquis de Terme as one of Margaux's finest. From 1809, three generations of the Feuillerat family shaped the estate for 125 years, first as employees and then as owners. In the 1855 classification ordered by Napoleon III, with the estate under the administration of the Sollberg family and the management of the Feuillerats, Marquis de Terme was designated a 4th Grand Cru Classé. In 1935 Pierre Sénéclauze, a wine merchant originally from the Drôme region and based in Oran, acquired the château. In 1962, after the family returned to France, his three sons Pierre-Louis, Philippe and Jean took up the torch: a new wine cellar followed in 1981, thermoregulation was introduced in 1999, and the vineyard was consolidated. Decanter's Jane Anson credited the Sénéclauze family in 2021 with being the longest-running 100% family owners of a classified estate in the Margaux appellation. The estate opened its doors to visitors in 2017, completely renovated its vat room in 2018, opened a restaurant with Grégory Coutanceau in 2021 and added guest rooms in 2023. Paloma Sénéclauze, the fourth generation, arrived on the estate in 2021 and took full charge in 2024.

• 1762: François de Péguilhan, Marquis de Terme, married Élisabeth de Ledoulx; her dowry provided the estate's land.
• 1809: the Feuillerat family's 125-year tenure began, first as employees and then as owners.
• 1855: designated a 4th Grand Cru Classé in the classification ordered by Napoleon III.
• 1935: acquired by Pierre Sénéclauze, a wine merchant from the Drôme based in Oran.
• 1981: new wine cellar; 1999: thermoregulation introduced; 2018: complete renovation of the vat room.
• 2024: Paloma Sénéclauze, the fourth generation, took full charge of the estate.

The Sénéclauze family has owned the estate since 1935. Paloma Sénéclauze is executive director, Sébastien Esquerre is technical manager, Chloé Michel is assistant technical manager, Solana Rey Siceles is wine master and Myriam Ruer is sales manager. Each spring the technical team, with Paloma Sénéclauze and Julien Viaud, who has accompanied the estate's wines since 2009, works on the blend. Under Sébastien Esquerre, with the full support of Paloma Sénéclauze, the estate is restructuring its vineyard in a long-term project, Marquis de Terme 2035. As of July 2021, Ludovic David was the estate's director and had been with the estate since 2009; in that period the harvest date was pushed back by 10 to 15 days, sorting by hand and with a Tribaie machine that measures grape density was introduced, the winery moved to gravity flow for filling the vats, and between 2010 and 2017 the vats were gradually changed to a triconic shape.

• Owners: the Sénéclauze family, since 1935.
• Paloma Sénéclauze, executive director; Sébastien Esquerre, technical manager; Chloé Michel, assistant technical manager; Solana Rey Siceles, wine master.
• Julien Viaud has accompanied the estate's wines since 2009 and works on the blend each spring.
• Ludovic David was director as of July 2021 and had been with the estate since 2009.

The vineyard covers 45 hectares spread over three main plateaus shaped by Quaternary glacial erosion, with a parcel layout virtually unchanged since the 1855 classification across the communes of Margaux and Cantenac. It lies on prime Margaux land, between Rauzan-Ségla and Lascombes. The soils are deep gravels with quartz and quartzite over a clay subsoil that ensures natural water regulation, and the roots extend up to six meters deep. The estate's technical sheets describe deep gravel, locally more clayey, on two major soil families: clayey subsoils (luvisols) and gravel and pebbles (peyrosols). The Cuvée 1762 blend draws on all 26 of the vineyard's plots. A 10-hectare parcel on the Agnes Plateau, made up of peyrosols and deep gravels, supplies the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for the Empreinte cuvée.

• 45 hectares over three main plateaus in the communes of Margaux and Cantenac; 26 plots.
• Deep gravels with quartz and quartzite over a clay subsoil; roots extend up to six meters deep.
• Neighbours: Rauzan-Ségla and Lascombes.

The estate holds three certifications: High Environmental Value (HVE) level 4, Terra Vitis and Bee Friendly. Its practices include zero herbicides, 100 fruit trees planted and 900 linear meters of hedges, and it produces its own honey from five beehives on the estate. Harvesting follows a precise plot-by-plot division so that grapes are picked only at optimum maturity.

• Certifications: HVE level 4, Terra Vitis, Bee Friendly.
• Zero herbicides; 100 fruit trees planted; 900 linear meters of hedges; five beehives.

Each bunch is sorted by hand and each berry is gravity-fed into the vat. Since the 2018 renovation the vat room holds thirty-one wooden, concrete and stainless steel vats, entirely gravity-fed, for plot-by-plot vinification. The technical sheets list cold pre-fermentation maceration, alcoholic fermentation with natural yeasts and punching down. Blending takes place each spring after the harvest. For the 2023 grand vin, the Merlot was harvested from September 13 to 27, the Cabernet Sauvignon from September 25 to October 11 and the Petit Verdot on September 28; the wine was aged 16 months in French oak barrels, including 50% new barrels, and bottled in June 2025.

• Hand sorting; gravity-fed vats of wood, concrete and stainless steel (thirty-one since 2018).
• Cold pre-fermentation maceration, natural yeasts, punching down.
• 2023 grand vin: 16 months in French oak barrels, 50% new; bottled June 2025.

Château Marquis de Terme, the grand vin, is built around Cabernet Sauvignon; the 2023 is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Cuvée 1762, first made in 2018, takes its name from the year of the estate's birth and blends all the château's parcels; the estate presents it in these words: “It’s not a second wine in the traditional sense. It’s a different, equally sincere expression of our terroir.” The 2020 Cuvée 1762 is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, aged 12 months in French oak barrels and concrete vats. Empreinte, a limited edition first made in 2018, reverses the estate's usual blend proportions and winemaking methods: the 2018 is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Agnes Plateau parcel, fully vinified in wood for two months with alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrels on lees, then aged 16 months in oval concrete vats.

• Château Marquis de Terme: the grand vin, Cabernet Sauvignon-led (2023: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot).
• Cuvée 1762: first vintage 2018; blended from all the château's parcels (2020: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot).
• Empreinte: limited edition, first vintage 2018; reversed blend (2018: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon) and reversed winemaking.

The estate names a “graphite” minerality, reminiscent of pencil lead or gunflint, as the aromatic signature that sets Marquis de Terme apart from other Margaux, and ties it to its terroir: limestone in the subsoil for saline freshness, surface gravel to concentrate the aromas and clay at depth for mineral notes. Reviewing a vertical in 2021, Decanter's Jane Anson found the depth of flavour and the consistency of the results since 2014 notable, with three 94-point wines from the 2015 vintage onwards.

The estate, at 3 route de Rauzan in Margaux-Cantenac, receives visitors Monday to Sunday from April to October and Monday to Saturday from November to March, from 10:00 to 18:00. Its tours include a private tour of the vineyard and estate with a tasting of three wines at 40€ per person, and the summer terrace in the estate's courtyard is open from April to October. The restaurant [Au] Marquis de Terme was created with chef Grégory Coutanceau and is led by executive chef Benjamin Torrezan, and five guest rooms are available in the château.

• Visits: April to October, Monday to Sunday; November to March, Monday to Saturday; 10:00 to 18:00.
• Restaurant [Au] Marquis de Terme with Grégory Coutanceau; five guest rooms.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/en/, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/en/history-and-terroir/, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/en/wines/, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/en/workshops-and-visits/, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/en/contact-2/, and the estate's technical sheets (PDF): https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/wp-content/uploads/MdT-2023-Fiche-technique-Revue-de-Presse-Marquis-de-Terme-EN_compressed.pdf, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/wp-content/uploads/MdT-2020-Fiche-technique-Cuvee-1762-EN_compressed.pdf, https://chateau-marquis-de-terme.com/wp-content/uploads/FT_MARQUIS-DE-TERME-EMPREINTE-2018-GB_compressed.pdf. Secondary sources: Decanter (Jane Anson, 1 July 2021; Decanter Staff, last updated 28 May 2015). Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.