History in a bottle

The family owns six châteaux,including Château Gruaud-Larose,one of 15 Deuxièmes Crus (second growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. “Bordeaux has been established since Roman times,” states David Patrick Launay,Director of Château Gruaud-Larose,when asked how the region gained significance. “In the seventeenth century,new plantations in Médoc started producing fine wines,and British merchants stopping through Bordeaux would trade them for silk and spices,” Launay,the only one of the trio who is not a family member,explains. The region produces some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world,including the Châteaux Pétrus,Latour,Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild.

Another step which gave Bordeaux prominence was the classification in 1855,a system requested by Napoléon Bonaparte that categorised the region’s wineries based on the likely price they would fetch at that year’s Paris Exposition. Although many critics argue that it is an outdated guide,Benjamin Merlaut of Château Ferrière thinks that it is still influential and relevant. “Some producers,of course,aren’t making the required effort to reflect their classification,but upwards of 95 per cent of wineries respect it,” he says. In recent decades,though,the influence of wine critics has gained prominence; the critic with the most sway is the controversial Robert Parker.

Another distinctive feature of Bordeaux is the strong tradition of selling en primeur,or the method of selling wine futures. Producers allow buyers to invest in vintages while they are still in barrels,much before they are released. This gives buyers a chance to potentially get wines at a cheaper price,and is a source of much-needed liquidity for producers. “In Bordeaux,we have always sold our wines this way; typically 95 per cent of a vintage is sold en primeur and we release old vintages from time to time,” explains Merlaut.

Despite all the tradition,Bordeaux is progressive in some ways. Celine Villars and her sister,Merlauts from their mother’s side,own three châteaux between them and are wholly involved in production. “With women running the firm,we inject a lot of freshness,” she says proudly. Another trend is of wineries establishing their presence outside France; the first major example is Opus One,a Californian joint venture Mouton Rothschild and Robert Mondavi started back in 1980. The Merlaut family has a vineyard in China and Canada. “It is a question of opportunity and financial means; some people don’t want to expand abroad since they have enough,” says Launay.

Asked about emerging markets such as India and China,the trio is cautiously optimistic. “Bordeaux wines need to build a reputation and have always depended on excellent distribution which creates demand. We have seen a 100 per cent growth in demand from India and China,but even in five years it won’t account for more than 10 per cent of our sales,” Launay points out. David Banford,Director of TWSI,is pessimistic,says,“It will take India 20 years before it is ready to appreciate the subtlety of Bordeaux wines”.