Château Dauzac

The estate

Jean-Baptiste Lynch, later mayor of Bordeaux, inherited Dauzac in 1783 and held it until 1836. Its place in the history of wine came under Nathaniel Johnston, who had the estate from 1870. Around 1878 Alexis Millardet, professor of botany at Bordeaux, noticed that vines along the roads were free of mildew, and Ernest David, the régisseur of Dauzac, told him why: growers splashed copper sulphate and lime on the roadside rows to make the grapes look poisoned and keep thieves off them. Millardet worked the observation up with the chemist Ulysse Gayon, and trials ran from 1883 to 1885 on Johnston’s properties, Dauzac among them, with David running them in the vineyard. Millardet published in 1885, and by 1886 mildew was under control. The treatment that saved the vineyards of Europe was long called in France the Millardet-David method, and Johnston put in some of the first mechanical sprayers here.

The insurer MAIF owned Dauzac from 1988, with André Lurton managing it and holding a large minority that MAIF bought back in 2014, and the Roulleau family, of the Samsic group, took it over in 2020. Laurent Fortin has been managing director since early 2013, with Philippe Roux as technical director and Éric Boissenot consulting.

The vineyard is 49 hectares in 1 block, 350 meters from the Gironde, 45 of them in Margaux and 4 in the Haut-Médoc, on a deep outcrop of gravel over clay, at 10,000 vines a hectare, planted 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. The gravity cellar went up in 2004, and since 2014 the estate has used wooden vats with transparent double staves built for it by Seguin Moreau. The wines are wholly vegan, fined with plant proteins in place of egg white. Franc de Pied is a Cabernet Sauvignon from ungrafted vines, a massal selection replanted in 2017 and first harvested in 2021, about 1,000 bottles. Aurore de Dauzac has been the second wine since 2013.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Labarde

Classification

Cinquième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Roulleau family, since 2020; the insurer MAIF from 1988

Direction

Laurent Fortin, managing director, since early 2013; Philippe Roux, technical director

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

49 hectares in 1 block, 45 in Margaux and 4 in the Haut-Médoc; 10,000 vines a hectare; 350 meters from the Gironde

Ground

Deep gravel over clay

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 69%, Merlot 29%, Petit Verdot 2%

Cellar

Gravity fed, built in 2004; wooden vats with transparent double staves since 2014; vegan fining

Wines

Château Dauzac; Aurore de Dauzac, since 2013; Franc de Pied, first harvested in 2021; Labastide Dauzac

Bordeaux mixture

Trialed here from 1883 to 1885 by Alexis Millardet with the régisseur Ernest David

Sources: Château Dauzac, the property · Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Château Dauzac · Inventaire du patrimoine, Château Dauzac