Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux | Moulis-en-Médoc

The Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux with vineyards to the front

Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux is to be found on the Grand Poujeaux plateau, next door to Château Chasse-Spleen, in the commune of Moulis-en-Médoc, the smallest of the communal appellations of the Médoc. The 30 hectares of vines have an average age of 30 years, and are planted on the left bank’s famous Garonne gravel, which has all the qualities necessary for growing Bordeaux’s key grape varieties: Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.

The first traces of Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux as such can be found in the Féret guide of 1868. The high quality of the wines was subsequently rewarded with the classification of Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 1932, then Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in the 1966 classifications and again 1978. François Cordonnier (Senior), former manager of the Château de Chenonceau in the Loire region, bought the property in 1967 from the descendants of the Dutruchs. He then brought the vineyard from 11 to 28 hectares. Childless, he passed the property on to his nephew Jean Baptiste in 1994, who until 2016 ran the vineyard with his wife Nathalie. Jean Baptiste refined the élevage, building a new chai in 1999, and added finesse to a generous, full-flavoured claret. He has now sold it to his brother François Cordonnier (Junior) to continue the work started by their uncle in the perpetual search for quality.