This Margaux shows inventiveness
and common sense to stay one step ahead. A vineyard philosophy that has been emulated.

Bordeaux mixture, a mixture of copper sulphate and milk of lime which saved the Bordeaux vines from mildew, bears the signature of Dauzac.
It was developed in 1884 by Alexis Millardet and ernest david, the estate manager. The use of a thermoregulator in the vats is again his doing. We owe it to the owner of Bernat ice-cream parlours, who bought Château dauzac in 1939. this grand cru classé of Margaux has always been a trendsetter, not hesitating to use disruptive methods that have since become standard practice in the greatest châteaux of Bordeaux.

The tradition continues. Laurent Fortin, its Managing Director since 2013, is also a visionary.
he has only one watchword: innovation. A follower of the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, he claims to have “good farming sense combined with a constant need to see further ahead”. During the renovation of the cellars, vats with a double transparent stave that allows you to see what is going on inside were ima- gined. They have since been installed at estates such as Brane-Cantenac and talbot. We are also banking on artificial intelligence for precision viticulture,” adds Laurent Fortin, a fervent supporter of biody- namy. We are currently studying a cluster scanning system to assess the nutrient requirements of each vine.“

Vegan de certification

Owned by the Roulleau family (Samsic Group), Château Dauzac is one of the few estates to have a research and development policy that has resulted in several products or procedures of its own: the use of algae to combat vine diseases, the creation of a glue based on vegetable proteins that enabled it to obtain vegan certification. The list of good ideas does not end there. To find out the composition of the subsoil, Fortin carried out electrical resistivity tests, which consisted of sending electricity into the soil to find out its exact composition. When he bought 2 hectares of vineyards in 2015, he discovered that half of them were composed of very fine and deep gravel. “An interesting opportunity to plant free-standing vines, in this case a selection of our best Cabernet Sauvignon,” he explains. The 2021 vintage of this new wine, called Cabernet Sauvignon Originel, will be sold in 2023. “My idea, which is more educational than meritorious, is to help people discover the true taste of the king of Médoc grapes, which is very delicate with its light structure, long finish and controlled acidity.” Here again, Dauzac is a pioneer.

Alyette Debray-Mauduy – Figaro Magazine