A new life begins for Château Tronquoy-Lalande in Saint-Estèphe
By Cesar.Compadre 2011-3-30 15:04:31
Yves Delsol, who has been working at Château Tronquoy-Lalande for the past twenty years, is now in the driving seat of a formula one estate of appellation Saint-Estèphe.
The Bouygues brothers have invested 10 million euros to give the property a new boost.
We can only be grateful to these captains of industry, wealthy foreigners or financial conglomerates who invest their money in our region’s vineyards,” says a Bordeaux merchant, who cannot get over the transformation of Château Tronquoy-Lalande, located in AOC Saint-Estèphe, in the heart of the prestigious vineyards of the Médoc.
This was a few days ago, during the presentation of this “resurrection” to local professionals (merchants and brokers) in charge of marketing the wines of this 30 hectare estate, which was purchased by brothers Olivier and Martin Bouygues who own the telecommunications and civil engineering group of the same name.
Up until now, the spotlight had been on Château Montrose, the reputed grand cru estate and its 95 hectares of vineyard, also in Saint-Estèphe, bought the same year by these business brothers. Tronquoy-Lalande has now come out of the former’s shadow. It has taken three years of renovation work – and 10 million euros - to revive this estate which had previously been used to getting by on a shoestring budget , with only one exclusive merchant (out of the 400) in Bordeaux.
Yves Delsol, the technical director, who has been at the château for twenty years, conducts the guided tour: « This is like an immense reward for all the hard work accomplished here », he says, with a smile, while showing the visitors around the spotless stainless steel vat room worthy of a grand cru estate, a state-of-the-art barrel cellar with its black walls and the huge reception area. This metamorphosis can also be appreciated by Arlette Castéja, the previous, well-known owner of the estate, who still lives in the residential part of the château.
Synergy with Montrose
« At both Montrose and Tronquoy-Lalande, we are successfully pursuing a total modernization of the estates», points out Jean-Bernard Delmas, who is supervising both properties on behalf of the Bouygues family, assisted by Nicolas Glumineau at Montrose.
Gone are the days when every penny counted for the previous owners of this estate. Now the architects are having a field day. A tractor park which follows the natural contours of the land has been created. A geothermal facility - a pioneer of its kind in the Bordeaux region – provides temperature control. Also in the making is an immense barrel cellar and 3,000 photovoltaic panels will be adorning the roofs. In short, millions of euros have been invested to improve quality and play the environmental card.
There will also be synergy on a commercial level. Tronquoy-Lalande (sold at around 25 euros a bottle) will be in the “slipstream” of Château Montrose (more than 100 euros a bottle) – to such an extent that the former is no longer asserting its historical cru Bourgeois status.
From Hong Kong to Bordeaux
A delegation from the Hong Kong tourist office is in Bordeaux to prepare its third wine festival, which will take place from the 27th to the 30th October. This city-state, which has close wine trade links with the Gironde region, will be the city guest of honor at the Bordeaux wine festival, “Bordeaux Fête le Vin”, from the 28th June to the 1st July 2012. A similar event is planned to take place for the first time in the city of Quebec, in September 2012.
Land porterage
A new innovative system of viticultural land porterage, developed by the wine industry, the S.A.F.E.R (Bureau in charge of rural land planning and development) and a few French banks, is ready to be implemented in the Gironde region. The system will make it easier to transmit vineyards and wineries to prospective buyers. The S.A.F.E.R buys a part of the rural real estate, then rents it out to the interested party. This complex system also enables the wine grower to honor his or her debts over several years before reclaiming his land.
The Bouygues brothers have invested 10 million euros to give the property a new boost.
We can only be grateful to these captains of industry, wealthy foreigners or financial conglomerates who invest their money in our region’s vineyards,” says a Bordeaux merchant, who cannot get over the transformation of Château Tronquoy-Lalande, located in AOC Saint-Estèphe, in the heart of the prestigious vineyards of the Médoc.
This was a few days ago, during the presentation of this “resurrection” to local professionals (merchants and brokers) in charge of marketing the wines of this 30 hectare estate, which was purchased by brothers Olivier and Martin Bouygues who own the telecommunications and civil engineering group of the same name.
Up until now, the spotlight had been on Château Montrose, the reputed grand cru estate and its 95 hectares of vineyard, also in Saint-Estèphe, bought the same year by these business brothers. Tronquoy-Lalande has now come out of the former’s shadow. It has taken three years of renovation work – and 10 million euros - to revive this estate which had previously been used to getting by on a shoestring budget , with only one exclusive merchant (out of the 400) in Bordeaux.
Yves Delsol, the technical director, who has been at the château for twenty years, conducts the guided tour: « This is like an immense reward for all the hard work accomplished here », he says, with a smile, while showing the visitors around the spotless stainless steel vat room worthy of a grand cru estate, a state-of-the-art barrel cellar with its black walls and the huge reception area. This metamorphosis can also be appreciated by Arlette Castéja, the previous, well-known owner of the estate, who still lives in the residential part of the château.
Synergy with Montrose
« At both Montrose and Tronquoy-Lalande, we are successfully pursuing a total modernization of the estates», points out Jean-Bernard Delmas, who is supervising both properties on behalf of the Bouygues family, assisted by Nicolas Glumineau at Montrose.
Gone are the days when every penny counted for the previous owners of this estate. Now the architects are having a field day. A tractor park which follows the natural contours of the land has been created. A geothermal facility - a pioneer of its kind in the Bordeaux region – provides temperature control. Also in the making is an immense barrel cellar and 3,000 photovoltaic panels will be adorning the roofs. In short, millions of euros have been invested to improve quality and play the environmental card.
There will also be synergy on a commercial level. Tronquoy-Lalande (sold at around 25 euros a bottle) will be in the “slipstream” of Château Montrose (more than 100 euros a bottle) – to such an extent that the former is no longer asserting its historical cru Bourgeois status.
From Hong Kong to Bordeaux
A delegation from the Hong Kong tourist office is in Bordeaux to prepare its third wine festival, which will take place from the 27th to the 30th October. This city-state, which has close wine trade links with the Gironde region, will be the city guest of honor at the Bordeaux wine festival, “Bordeaux Fête le Vin”, from the 28th June to the 1st July 2012. A similar event is planned to take place for the first time in the city of Quebec, in September 2012.
Land porterage
A new innovative system of viticultural land porterage, developed by the wine industry, the S.A.F.E.R (Bureau in charge of rural land planning and development) and a few French banks, is ready to be implemented in the Gironde region. The system will make it easier to transmit vineyards and wineries to prospective buyers. The S.A.F.E.R buys a part of the rural real estate, then rents it out to the interested party. This complex system also enables the wine grower to honor his or her debts over several years before reclaiming his land.
From bordeauxwinenews.blogs.sudouest.fr