Why Did a 200-Year-Old Estate Gain “Wings” in 2015? — Château Pédesclaux

Château Pédesclaux, standing in Pauillac, is an estate named a Fifth Growth in the 1855 classification. The official website now introduces this estate as a place with “now 200 years” of history. Yet within that figure of 200 years lies the story of a house that once came close to disappearing.

There is another major change at this estate in recent years. In 2015, at the hands of an architect, the house literally gained “wings.” Why would an old house, said to have been founded by a wine broker, come to wear wings in the 21st century? The answer lies in the very history of “rebuilding” that this land has repeated.

The House Said to Have Been Founded by a Wine Broker

The origins of this estate reach further back than the classification itself. In the early 19th century, around 1810, a wine broker from Bordeaux is said to have founded this estate. The founder’s name varies among sources. According to what is recounted, he purchased a Chartreuse-style house built in 1755, together with several hectares of land.

The estate is said to have passed to his son in 1849. In 1891, when the Pédesclaux widow of the time passed away, the estate is said to have passed into the hands of the Comte de Gastebois, and later, through marriage, to have been carried on to the Comte de Vézins family. By 1930, a man named Lucien Jugla is said to have begun to be involved with the estate as its manager. The ownership of the house had thus changed hands many times over.

From the Brink of Closure, Through the Hands of the Jugla Family

The turning point came after the Second World War. Beset by serious financial difficulty, the estate is said to have been driven to the brink of near-total closure. About three years into that difficult state, in 1950, the Jugla family purchased the estate. At the time, it is said that no wine production was taking place at all. From there, the estate and its vineyards are said to have been gradually rebuilt under the Jugla family.

The Jugla family continued to run the estate until 2009, when they are said to have sold it that same year to Jacky Lorenzetti. Lorenzetti was, at the time, already the owner of another château. From 2009 onward, a series of important decisions guiding the estate’s “revival” were made under the Lorenzetti family, and the reorganization of the vineyards along with the acquisition of new parcels moved forward. Today, the vineyard consists of 49 hectares of Garonne gravel over a limestone subsoil, farmed organically, with some parcels managed biodynamically. The broker’s house had thus completed its second rebuilding.

A Winery That Gained Wings — The Work of Architect Wilmotte

And in 2015, a third rebuilding came into view. Architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte carried out the renovation, giving rise to a new, 100% gravity-flow winery. The new cellar spans 2,000 square meters, and the entire site covers 8,000 square meters.

Wilmotte himself has spoken of this work, saying that by adding two glass volumes to the façade, he gave the château the place it ought to have had, and in doing so gave the house “wings.” The exterior was clad in bronze-anodized aluminum louvers that shift in appearance from copper to gold as they catch the sunlight. The floors are laid with white concrete and American walnut, and the cellar’s interior walls and ceiling are finished in light-toned wooden battens intended to converse with the oak barrels. The fermentation vats were deliberately designed to be visible from outside through glass. The broker’s house had thus become a building that no longer hides its interior.

Today, the estate has Jacky and Françoise Lorenzetti serving as Owners, with their daughter Manon also serving as one of the owners while taking charge as viticulture director, Emmanuel Cruse serving as General Director, and Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen as Director. Jacky is said to have studied oenology while attending a hospitality school in Lausanne, and to have come to be involved in the winemaking of Médoc wines from there. Françoise was born in the Gironde, and her grandparents were winegrowers. Manon is described as having grown up involved in winemaking through her mother. The official website expresses its philosophy in three words: “Ethics, Excellence, and Continuity.” The soil of the top wine’s vineyard is a mix of clay and gravel. The second wine, Fleur de Pédesclaux, also continues to be produced from this same terroir.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• The estate’s “revival” began in 2009. The Lorenzetti family acquired the estate and set about reorganizing the vineyards and renewing its structure. Beyond that lies the 2015 renewal of the winery.
• The architect himself spoke of having “given it wings” through this renovation. In 2015, the two glass volumes added to the façade in Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s renovation are said to have given the château the place it ought to have had.
• The fermentation vats were deliberately built to be visible from outside. The new cellar’s interior walls are glass, and its exterior is clad in aluminum louvers that shift color from copper to gold in the sunlight.