Château du Moulin Rouge

The estate

13 generations of the same family have made and kept this estate at Cussac-Fort-Médoc since their ancestors founded it in the 18th century. The present generation is Lucie Secret, an agronomist trained at Bordeaux Sciences Agro, and Geoffrey Ribeiro, who studied the international wine trade; both hold diplomas in viticulture and oenology. Lucie Secret created a Haut-Médoc of her own, Château Beau Secret, in 2014, and the family also makes Château Moulin de Bayron, a Bordeaux Supérieur from 2 hectares.

The vines grow on sunny gravel rises in the microclimate of the Gironde estuary, planted 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, and have held Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 since 2015. The soil is worked and the leaves pulled; the grapes are picked only by hand and sorted in the vineyard and 2 more times after; the wine ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel, ages 12 months in French oak with 1 third of the barrels renewed each year, is fined with egg white and bottled in June. L’Ecuyer du Moulin Rouge, the second wine, makes about 15,000 bottles a year. Moulin Rouge was a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Cussac-Fort-Médoc

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, 2020 and 2025

Owners

The same family for 13 generations; Lucie Secret and Geoffrey Ribeiro

Ground

Gravel rises by the Gironde estuary

Grapes

Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40%, Cabernet Franc 10%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2015

Cellar

Picked by hand; stainless steel; 12 months in French oak, 1 third new

Wines

Château du Moulin Rouge; L’Ecuyer du Moulin Rouge

The house

Also Château Beau Secret, Haut-Médoc, and Château Moulin de Bayron, Bordeaux Supérieur

Sources: Château du Moulin Rouge · Château du Moulin Rouge, the history and terroir · Château du Moulin Rouge, the grand vin · Château du Moulin Rouge, the other wines · Château du Moulin Rouge, technical sheet 2018 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, Château du Moulin Rouge · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020