2023-07-06 23:27:12
A year following his arrival and following taking the time to “get his bearings”, the new tandem at the head of the Bouygues vineyards (five estates between Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire and Cognac) reveals to Terre de Vins the main lines of its roadmap.
If the official announcement of their taking office was made last September, the overlap with the former management, embodied for 10 years by Hervé Berland, had begun a few months earlier. A year, therefore, following their discreet arrival at the helm, Charlotte Bouygues and Pierre Graffeuille have fully made their mark. This new tandem at the head of SCDM Domaines, the entity dedicated to the wine-growing and agricultural activities of the family holding company of Martin and Olivier Bouygues, naturally shares responsibilities: in general management, Pierre Graffeuille brings his technical profile (he is a of Bordeaux Sciences Agro and the Faculty of Oenology of Bordeaux) and his cross-disciplinary knowledge of the sector (he went through the trade and distinguished himself for 10 years in the sales department and then the general management of the Delon vineyards); in the strategy & development department, Charlotte Bouygues brings her experience of large groups (L’Oréal, TF1), her international culture (American mother, three years of her career spent in New York) and strong expertise in communication and marketing.
Montrose, flagship
“After ten years spent in large groups, I wanted to discover something else, to also experience an activity that was both more concrete, more family-oriented and entrepreneurial”explains Charlotte Bouygues. “I knew that my father (Martin Bouygues, Editor’s note) was hoping that I would be interested in his investments in wine. This coincided with the arrival of Pierre, who succeeded Hervé Berland, who had done a tremendous job for ten years. We have the advantage of having different but complementary backgrounds: Pierre is more product focused, I am more focused on global strategy. »
Today, SCDM Domaines brings together a superb portfolio of properties: Château Montrose (2nd Grand Cru Classé 1855) and Château Tronquoy in Saint-Estèphe, Clos Rougeard in Saumur, Domaine Henri Rebourseau in Gevrey-Chambertin, 160 hectares of vines and two sites distillation in Cognac, plus a truffle field in Chinon (12 hectares). ” All these acquisitions have been made, since 2006, by opportunity and at the heart of Martin Bouygues », emphasizes Pierre Graffeuille. “There was not necessarily a common strategy. We are going to harmonize all of this, create more technical and commercial synergies, give a strong identity to each area so that the activity is less “saint-estèphe-centric“although Montrose remains our flagship. In Montrose, whose terroirs and vineyards are already fully operational, the wines already enjoy great recognition. “But we can always go further in precision “says Pierre Graffeuille. “A great wine is a sum of details. Having worked at Las Cases for 10 years, I am not in unfamiliar territory on terrace 4 of Saint-Estèphe and its clayey gravel. The Bouygues family has one watchword: quality, quality, quality. Vincent Decup, in the technical direction, has been doing remarkable work for several years, including on the environmental level. I specify that all the properties of the group are either certified AB or in the process of conversion, but we must go even further. As a flagship, Montrose must set an example, be a showcase and a strong brand, and offer amateurs an even more complete experience, which goes beyond the bottle of wine, which encompasses this magical place in the Médoc.. »
Tronquoy, nugget in mutation
A stone’s throw from Montrose, Château Tronquoy is also undergoing a minor revolution. Neither a classified growth nor a bourgeois growth, this Saint-Etienne estate with top-flight terroirs “still needs to get better known”says Charlotte Bouygues. “Tronquoy produces very great wines, at affordable prices, including its excellent white. It is important to put it more in the light, which is why we worked on its change of identity (until recently it was called Tronquoy-Lalande, Editor’s note) and put it back for the first time since 2012. We want to take more risks, be bold, work with chefs… there is a real story to tell around this property. This is our think tank. »
As for Cognac, the only vineyard in the group not to be organic, three properties have been acquired since 2014, for a total area of 160 hectares. Part of the production is sold to large Cognac houses, and Bouygues keeps “what is most interesting”by constituting reserves and heritage, without any desire to create a brand for the moment.
In Burgundy, Domaine Henri Rebourseau, acquired in 2018, concentrates 13.5 hectares, including 5.5 in Grand Cru (Chambertin, Chambertin Clos de Bèze, Mazy-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot). ” We have magnificent terroirs, in particular in Gevrey”, says Pierre Graffeuille. ” The quality of the wines is there, we are currently in the work phase on the technical tool, for an inauguration in June 2024. After that, we will really be ready to take off. There is still a lot of work to do around the brand. »
Clos Rougeard: “we still need to reassure »
There have also been works at Clos Rougeard, and they are finally coming to an end, for an inauguration this fall. Bought by the Bouygues family in 2017, this jewel of the Loire offers a modernization of the technical tool “which is not intended to transform everything », emphasizes Pierre Graffeuille. “The terroir of Clos Rougeard is immutable, it is above all necessary to accompany it to enable it to adapt to climate change. The wines are there, we do not touch the four cuvées which each have their own personality. The Foucault family has been around for eight generations, our role is to continue making great wines, as they have done before. We are aware that we still need to be reassured: we do not take up such a property lightly. Clos Rougeard benefits from a dedicated sales department, we recruited a new operations manager at the end of 2022, Cyril Chirouze. The idea is to develop exports a little more, which today only represents 1/3 of the volumes sold. We are moving forward in small steps. Also in the Loire, SCDM Domaines relies on complementarity with its truffle plantation located in Chinon, which covers 12 hectares, with a planting density of more than 2,200 trees/hectare. “We want to develop a global local activity, around exceptional products”says Charlotte Bouygues. “It’s in our family’s DNA, we don’t do anything without passion. And this will continue in our next developments: we are already considering the creation of an umbrella brand (other than the legal name SCDM Domaines) to bring together all these activities. And we’re keeping an eye out for possible new acquisitions, maybe overseas… Considering my mother’s origins, California would make sense. To see if, in view of global warming, this is a vineyard of the future… We don’t want to rush. »
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