May 31st, 2016 - Neal Martin's article erobertparker.com
France, Bordeaux: Margaux Profile 3 - Chateau DauzacMay 31, 2016
The appellation of Margaux drapes over a large area compared to either Pauillac or Saint Julien, encompassing five communes within its borders. It is populated by an array of properties that are too often overlooked, one being Chateau Dauzac. I first visited the property in the late-1990s for a soirée during Vinexpo week. I have hazy memories playing croquet and boules on a balmy evening - games to keep guests amused prior to the smorgasbord buffet that Bordeaux has down to a tea. I also remember the charismatic seventy-something André Lurton, smartly attired in a navy blazer and standing precariously on a chair to give his speech. The lightest breeze would have sent him toppling into the foie gras. Even that would not have stopped his oration.
Over the following years, Chateau Dauzac became a wine that often performed well at en primeur and blind tastings: sensibly priced, never bothering speculators or investors, but appeasing those craving decent Margaux. So in 2015, I took the opportunity to return to the property and instead of croquet and boules, asked if I could tour their estate and re-taste back vintages.
History
The roots of Chateau Dauzac stretch back to the 16th century where records of the Benedictine monks refer to "Bourdieu de Dauzac" in 1545, though viticulture existed on the site as far back as the 12th century. It was part of the Sainte-Croix de Bordeaux abbey, though Bernard Ginestet notes how this monastic order was a bit slow on the uptake. So whilst other ecclesiastical orders settled in the choicest urban areas, these chaps were scrabbling around for a refuge before hanging up their robes near the village of Macau, site of present-day Dauzac. Ginestet is unsure about the etymologically of the name, though like Ausone, he cites Gallo-Roman "Davius" and "Davinius" as likely origins.
In 1622, the parliamentarian Jean Cousseau bought the estate, but it was only when he sold it to Pierre Drouillard in 1685 that winemaking began to flourish. His daughter Elisabeth inherited the land and she walked down the aisle to marry Thomas-Michel Lynch, part of the famous Irish merchant family. The estate was bequeathed to their son Jean-Baptiste Lynch, who served as mayor of Bordeaux in the early 19th century and continued to expand the vineyard until he passed away in 1836.
Chateau Dauzac was classed as a 5th growth in the 1855 classification, by which time ownership had passed to the Wiebroocks family and they in turn sold it to the proprietor of Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, Nathaniel Johnston. Ginestet describes him as "an extraordinary innovator in the world of wine" - inventor of "Bordeaux Mixture" and purportedly obsessed about sparkling wines. In fact, so enamoured was Nathaniel that he pinched some of the fruit from Dauzac across the Gironde to the C?te de Bourg, where he would turn it into "Royal Médoc Mousseaux." In 1924 the estate bottled its first wine instead of Bordeaux merchants and five years later, Jean-Jacques Bernat purchased the property. His profession was in the manufacturing of ice and so it comes as no surprise that he introduced temperature control during alcoholic fermentation, albeit through rudimental means of dumping ice-blocks into the must. Ginestet opines that despite his expertise in cooling the must, Dauzac lost its way among cognoscenti and in 1964 it was sold to the Miailhe family. They set about repairing the damaged vineyard and launched a cuvée entitled "Dauzac-Lynch" that was soon quashed by Lynch-Bages, Lynch-Moussas and Pontac-Lynch. In 1978 it passed into the hands of the Chatellier family and they assiduously commissioned Professor Emile Peynaud to consult in the restoration of the winery.
I must confess that for many years I misconstrued Chateau Dauzac as one of the many properties owned by the Lurton family and this partly stems from the aforementioned speech by André Lurton, who gave me the impression that he was the de facto owner. Reinforcing his suggested proprietorship was his name printed on the label. This was not the case. It clearly riled the actual owners MAIF, who acquired Dauzac from the Chatelliers in 1988.
So what had led to this state of affairs? MAIF had needed an experienced winemaker to oversee the estate. They chose Vignobles André Lurton and formed a management company within which MAIF gave him a part share. The contract lasted 20 years from 1992 and expired in 2012, during which "Vignobles André Lurton" appeared on the label. It could only be removed once the contract expired.
The man at the helm of Chateau Dauzac today is Laurent Fortin, pictured above in the vineyard, the dude in the sunglasses. Born in the town of Aviron, he commenced working at the estate in 2013, having worked in the United States for an import company before establishing merchant Advini. Laurent is a breed of estate manager perfect for steering a Bordeaux property through the 21st century, not hidebound by outdated practices, aware that there is work to be done in promoting Dauzac and attracting visitors to the estate (see below). He's a media-savvy guy who understands that these days, competition is intense, and that Bordeaux estates cannot rest of their laurels but most go out there and sell their chateau and its wines and its story.
The Vineyard
The entire estate covers 120 hectares, although only 45 hectares are under vine, plus another two hectares that are AC Haut-Médoc. The vines are located in one block on the "Plateau de Labarde," stretching from the entrance of the property over towards Chateau Giscours, the land gently rising and falling on its way, with the vines of Chateau Siran towards the north. Indeed, Dauzac and Siran once shared the same proprietor and it is said that they chose to sell Dauzac because it was more comfortable to reside at Siran! That obviously leaves a vast tract of some 75 hectares that is situated on alluvial, palus soils that stretch from the chateau down to the Gironde estuary some 500 meters away. This land is given over to a small patch of cereal outside the main gates that will eventually be planted with vines, an orchard, a picnic area where I was told some 4,000 people spread their blankets, a newly planted 200-tree arboretum based on the design of the Jardin de Publique in Bordeaux city, beehives (apparently they produced 80 kilograms in 2015), a now-disused bakery and grazing land for cows. This bovine element is important because they provide the fertilizer that is spread on the vineyard, "keeping the shit in-house" to put it in base terms. Overall, one can see that Dauzac is returning to the polyculture that defined the Bordeaux estates in the 19th century - vines are the priority, but don't have exclusivity of the land.
I toured the vineyard on a blisteringly hot June morning and was shown the variant soil profiles that distinguish the land, stopping to see parts that were more gravelly or sandier than others, parts that contained more rock detritus. Up until 20 years ago, the vineyard was treated as a single block. Under chef de culture Philippe Roux (pictured), who has been at Chateau Dauzac since 1993 after working inter alia with Pascal Delbeck, the vineyard is now managed in separated blocks according to soil profile. This necessitates multiple approaches to the vineyard husbandry and it is easy to see some blocks ploughed, whereas others had cover crops of grass sprouting between vines to control vigour and so forth. The vines average around 35-years-old, the oldest reaching 75 years. There was a mass replanting program during the 1990s due to the vines planted on SO4 rootstock that tended towards excess vigour. This was changed to Riparia, which apart from being more adept at controlling vigour, copes better with warmer vintages. Planting density was increased to 10,000 vines per hectare. This means that there are blocks with relatively younger plantings, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon, but as these have reached maturity, they have entered the Grand Vin, which explains why the percentage of the blend has increased in recent vintages. In fact, Patrick pointed to one parcel of just six-year-old vines, where he believes the terroir is so good that the fruit merits inclusion into the Grand Vin. The vineyard is managed by 23 full-time workers.
The current mixture of grape varieties is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and the remainder Merlot. There is no Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot here. The vines are pruned so that there are three buds per cane, with regular de-leafing after flowering. Since 1999, they have used sexual confusion techniques to naturally reduce the harmful insects, one of the first estates to use this successfully. Two years ago, they also introduced a technique known as "Multiplex" in the vineyard, basically a technique for measuring the anthocyanin level in the vineyard through a light spectrometer, which enables the vines to be treated commensurate to ripeness levels from flowering until picking.
Vinification
During the harvest, the estate recruits around 75 local pickers that return year after year. The handpicked fruit is transferred to the reception area in cagettes, where they are sorted via three vibrating sorting tables manned by four sets of eyes either side. I was told that this is preferred to optical sorting machines and there are no plans to use one in the future. One thing that has changed is the use of a pre-fermentation cold maceration of the fruit for around three days at around eight degrees Celsius. Philippe believes this has made a large difference. The must is then transferred by gravity into 80, 50 and two 25-hectoliter temperature-controlled stainless steel vats for alcoholic fermentation made by "Serup," a company that specialises in the dairy industry. These replaced the old 230-hectoliter vats with the 2014 vintage that were obviously too large to vinify the fruit parcel by parcel.
The stainless steel vessels are complemented by ten wooden vats that are specifically sourced from their selected forest, but it is their innovative design that caught my attention. Having seen that Mouton-Rothschild had installed a slit in which the fermenting juice can be viewed, the team at Dauzac asked Seguin-Moreau to extend that idea, so that the viewing "window" goes from the bottom to the top of the vat enabling the entire contents to be visible from the cap downwards. It is the same idea in Burgundy where growers have a barrel with a clear end so that they can monitor lees formation. This enables their ma?tre-de-chai to monitor the fermentation inside and adjust the remontage accordingly. It seems so obvious and indeed, I heard that other chateaux replacing their wooden vats have requested the same (I have subsequently seen them over at Brane-Cantenac).
From there, the wines are transferred by gravity to the barrel cellar, where on average 980 barrels mature the wines. These are sourced from five cooperages: Nadalie, Seguin Moreau, Sylvain, Taransaud and Doreau - the barrels all with a light toasting. Around 60-70% of the barrels are replaced each year. Together with consultant Eric Boissenot, they decide the level of new oak to use. Up until 2012 there were two wines: the Grand Vin and a second label, "Labastide Dauzac," which comes from younger vines and deselected barrels. But in 2013 they introduced "Aurore de Dauzac." This is now their second label and Labastide Dauzac is relegated to their third label.
The Wines
I tasted two verticals of recent vintages of the grand vin and deuxième vin, Labastide-Dauzac, now renamed Aurore de Dauzac. I must admit that I was not familiar with the second label but was impressed by its consistency, one of those good-value Bordeaux labels that just quietly goes about its business, giving early-drinking pleasure to those that like their weekday claret or are on a budget. Vintages such as the 2007 Labastide-Dauzac demonstrated that it can age surprisingly well, even in off-vintages, while the 2010 Labastide-Dauzac is one of those hidden gems that I bet flew off the shelves, attesting to how the quality of that growing season filtered down to the second labels.
With regard to the Grand Vin, Chateau Dauzac is a consistent Margaux with the exception of challenging vintages such as 2013 (though nobody can be blamed for complacency when Mother Nature has it in for the winemaker). As I expected, the 2009 and 2010 Dauzac are both excellent. They articulate the character of the vintage while displaying greater finesse and precision than the 2005. Perhaps my one disappointment was the 2006 Dauzac, which had showed so well out of barrel, here showing a little dryness towards the finish that made me wonder whether this was a wine whose best years were in the first ten? I tasted one older vintage from their library, which like so many in Bordeaux was drunk dry many years ago (unlike Siran next door it must be said). The 1959 Dauzac was perhaps more frail than other 1959s that I have tasted. Then again, it certainly continues to offer drinking pleasure - fresh and balanced, much more enticing on the nose than the lace-like, old school palate and a little attenuated. Yet I warmed to its silky texture and life-preserving acidity.
Funny enough, when I look back at my tasting notes a year later, I cannot help feeling that the best wine from Chateau Dauzac was the one that I saw growing on the vine...the 2015. Of course, that augurs well for the future and with a few more like that under its belt, perhaps more people will appreciate a fast-improving Margaux estate that is finally beginning to deliver quality in bottle under Laurent Fortin.
(My thanks to Laurent Fortin for spending time with me at the property and organising the vertical tasting.)
