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Renovation of the Château and technical facilities

Château Grand-Puy Ducasse’s story began when Arnaud Ducasse bought a « modest » house on the banks of the river in Pauillac in 1675. Little did he know that it would become a large estate that would remain in his family for almost three centuries. Pierre Ducasse, a lawyer with a passion for wine, considerably extended the land over three parishes – Pauillac, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Sauveur – and three seigneuries: Lafite, Latour and Beychevelle. In 1820, his son built the Château’s winery facing the Gironde estuary. At the time, this was a daring decision: Grand-Puy Ducasse would be the only Château to vinify its grapes in this location for 200 years. In 1855, the estate was included in the prestigious 1855 Grands Crus Classés classification of the Médoc growths. With 40 hectares of vines spread over 11 different types of soil, its vineyard can be considered the most representative of the diversity of Pauillac’s terroirs.

In 2004, CA Grands Crus, a subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole Group, embarked on an ambitious optimization plan and has made major investments in restructuring the vineyard. The forthcoming construction of a new winery and barrel storage facilities marks the beginning of a new era with the « Renaissance » project. « Dive into the heart of the renovation work with us on this unique site, and discover a piece of the puzzle each month. The latter will be revealed through the anecdotes that will be recounted as we progress to the opening of the property’s doors in 2024. » “To push rigorous standards even further” is Château Grand-Puy Ducasse’s motto, which is proudly upheld by the team led by Anne Le Naour and Benjamin Cassoulet.

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L’Expérience client

Le projet Renaissance du château Grand-Puy Ducasse a été pensé pour créer un outil technique adapté au parcellaire de la propriété, mais pas seulement …

Il a aussi pour ambition de remettre au coeur du projet « l’expérience client », « l’expérience Pauillac » et « l’expérience Médoc » !

Notre région est magnifique, nichée entre l’océan et l’estuaire. Les activités ne manquent pas et les projets fleurissent !

Toute l’équipe sera présente sur le stand des Vins du Médoc à l’occasion de Bordeaux Fête le Vin le samedi 29 juin pour vous présenter cette expérience immersive en avant-première.

#expérienceclient #visite #medoc #vinsdumédoc #Bordeauxfêtelevin #2024 #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac
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Wine Tourism

The countdown has started!

In just a few weeks, Château Grand-Puy Ducasse, which has been located on the quays of Pauillac for over 200 years, will open its doors to the public. This is a historic moment for the estate, because while the château has always attracted passers-by with its exceptional location on the quays, we have never been able to welcome them and let them enjoy the "Grand-Puy Ducasse" experience.

Thanks to the Renaissance project, this will now be possible!

The château will be equipped with a reception area, a shop located directly on the quayside, and above all a historical tour of the château's salons, which will enable visitors who are keen on history, wine and Bordeaux to discover almost 4 centuries in the life of Grand-Puy Ducasse. This unique tour, designed for young and old alike, will end with an exceptional view over the Gironde estuary: a key feature of our terroir!

We look forward to seeing you on Monday 8 July 2024 (which also marks the opening of the Pauillac film festival, the Vendanges du 7ème Art!).ème Art !).

#winetourism #tourism #visite #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac
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Homage

When we designed the château's itinerary and thought about the technical organization of the vat room, we had to think about the numbers and names of the vats. I wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women who have played such an important role in the history of the estate. So, our 8 vats in the first part of the vat room all bear the name of an illustrious member of the Ducasse family who left their mark on the history of the estate through one of their actions or decisions at the time. You'll come across Pamela, Arnaud or Pierre-Paulin.

Our 7 concrete vats bear the names of famous scientists and oenologists who have helped advance the history of viticulture and oenology.

Our 2 elevator tanks pay tribute to two men who marked the history of the estate in the 90s. They embodied Château Grand-Puy Ducasse and left their mark on the teams with their charisma and generosity.

So don't be surprised when you visit us, that the team speaks of Bernard and Jean-Michel with great affection!

#homage #vat #2024 #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac
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Blend

The month of February is punctuated by tasting to blend the new vintage!

In practice, the technical team and I meet regularly, often accompanied by our consultants, to taste the 40 or so lots that make up the 2023 harvest. It's this repetition that allows us to build, session after session, the blend that we feel, in its vintage, best represents the uniqueness of Grand-Puy Ducasse. And it was on a keyboard with as many black and white keys as new vats that we were able to compose the first score of this historic vintage for Maison Grand-Puy Ducasse.  

We're committed to producing wines that speak to where they come from, and 2023 is already expressing itself in our glasses as fulfilling that promise. We are eager to share it with you.

We look forward to seeing you in April, and presenting our wine to you en Primeur!

#blend #tasting #primeur #2024 #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac

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Spectacular

These first days of 2024 are an opportunity for the Grand-Puy Ducasse team and myself to wish you all the best for this upcoming vintage, and to unveil the "heart of the new reactor" that is the estate's main vat room. Take my word for it: the bolts are tight!

Château Grand-Puy Ducasse's new vat room now enables us to produce even more distinctive, precise and moving wines! It houses 55 vats for 40 hectares of vineyards: 46 double-skinned stainless steel truncated cone-shaped vats ranging from 30 to 129 hectolitres for vinification, and 7 concrete vats dedicated to maturing and blending the wines.

Those of you who remember our old vat room - only 29 tanks - can easily imagine how our range of possibilities has expanded. Grand-Puy Ducasse's resilience and ability to adapt to vintages that follow one another but never resemble one another have been multiplied.

We look forward to welcoming you without a hard hat in the weeks to come!

photo credit : Gabriel Guibert

#spectacular #vathouse #novelty #vineyard #2024 #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac
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Celebration

As 2023 draws to a close, the team will enjoy a well-deserved rest. The least we can say is that this vintage will go down in the estate's memory on several counts.

First of all, this is the very first vintage to inaugurate the vat room and cellar of the Grand-Puy Ducasse Renaissance project. But 2023 is also the last vintage of our tractor operator Guy Fabri, living memory of the estate for almost 37 years and the longest-serving member of the team! Witness to the estate's evolution on a technical, human and environmental level, it is with emotion that he closes his 36 harvests with the inauguration of the new technical tool...

The team at Château Grand-Puy Ducasse joins me in wishing you and your family and friends a very happy holiday season! I look forward to seeing you in 2024, for the completion of the Renaissance project... and the puzzle!

#celebration #celebration #Christmas #2024 #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac
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Luminous

We wanted a new tool bathed in natural light.

Our architects have fulfilled this wish giving us more than ever the opportunity to live, including in the cellar, to the rhythm of the seasons. Despite the fall, we are in the time of lights and everyone is delighted!

Photos - ©11h45
#luminous #autumninthevineyards #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #historical #quaysofpauillac
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Oenology

«Who knows how to taste never drinks wine but tastes secrets» as Salvador Dalí said it so well. Historical secrets, family secrets, oenological secrets… What if I told you that the wines of Château Grand-Puy Ducasse will soon have no secrets for you? Château Grand-Puy Ducasse will offer an immersive oenological experience, to dive into the aromas and flavors of its Grands Crus, but not only! See you in September 2024 to discover our historical, atypical, poetic and academic tastings!

#oenology #tasting #rendezvousen2024 #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancegrandpuyducasse #historical #quaysofpauillac
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Parcel

2023 is already a historic vintage for Grand-Puy Ducasse since it is the first time that the team is vinifying in the new vat room. A consecration awaited for almost ten years, when the idea of ​​renovating the Château and its tool hatched. Doubling the number of vats allows us today to develop the micro-plot and draw the quintessence of the terroir from each of our plots.
“Always push the requirement further” is the credo of our team.

#chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissanceofgrandpuyducasse #tanks #parcel #harvest2023 #historicalvintage #rebuildingforhistory
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Estuary

Escape the heat to take refuge in the cool stones of Château Grand-Puy Ducasse and enjoy the summer breeze coming directly from the Gironde estuary, this is what we particularly appreciate these days. The Château offers an exceptional setting on the quays of Pauillac: in front, a plunge into the blue horizon overlooking the right bank of Bordeaux; behind, a green landscape of vines, rich in biodiversity.

#rebirth #chateaugrandpuyducasse #gironde estuary #summer2023 #quaisdepauillac #biodiversity

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Ancestral

Going to the quays of Pauillac to take a leap back in time and immerse onself in the history of Château Grand-Puy Ducasse... discover the evolution of its stones through a historical journey... that's what our visitors will soon be able to enjoy. Four rooms that retrace key periods in history, a stroll among the vats personified by the names of those who have contributed to the prestigious reputation of our Grands Crus Classés of today. Paying homage and honoring history is our desire.

#rendezvousen2024 #renaissance #chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #rebatirpourlhistoire #historique #quaisdepauillac

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Committed

Since the 90s, the Château Grand-Puy Ducasse team has been taking strong measures and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. At the time, we weren't really talking about CSR, nor carbon footprint, but the choices made were already precursors in this area (in 1996 the property has already given up on weedkillers for the maintenance of its floors).
It is therefore quite natural that we accompanied the drafting of the specifications for the Renaissance project and that we contributed to the development of a specific site charter, involving all our stakeholders; and with the objective of responsible management of construction waste and respect for the neighborhood.


#chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #rebuilding for history #city dweller #gilding #swallows #withview #anchoring #know-how #welcoming #committed

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Welcoming

We took our time, we thought long and hard and we will be ready... in the third quarter of 2024, Château Grand-Puy Ducasse will open its doors to you! Its unique location on the quays of Pauillac has always invited travelers and visitors to stop. Many are those that this facade, close to the town hall and the cinema, intrigues.
Its unique location on the quays of Pauillac has always invited travelers and visitors to stop by. Many are those who are intrigued by this facade, next to the town hall and the cinema.
Soon, the Maison Ducasse will have no more secrets for you: a store opened on the quays, a unique tour in the heart of the castle and the discovery of our new tool will make the property the incarnation of the word "welcoming"!

#chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #rebatirpourlhistoire #citadin #dorure #withaview #ancrage #savoirfaire #welcoming

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Ancrage / savoir-faire

Wine is the product of ancestral know-how, which is transmitted from generation to generation in the vineyard. It is also the fruit of traditions that contribute to the strong identity of France and its international influence. Manual work retains an important part, which is why we are so sensitive to this living heritage.
When we initiated the #Renaissance project, we were keen to collaborate with craftsmen and companies that contribute to promoting economic activity locally. MOF, companions, local craftsmen, through their know-how, also contribute to the influence of our territory. Choosing them for our project also means allowing their companies to retain their talents.

chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #rebuildingforhistory #citydweller #gilding #swallows #withview #anchoring #know-how

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Swallows, construction site and biodiversity !

The anecdote, not very classic, fully deserved to be told, but it will have been necessary to wait for the chance of a meeting, Sarah and Eugenia, to make it concrete. We had ideas, they had know-how. Strengthened by our common values: anchoring in our territory, local and responsible production, the swallows of Grand-Puy Ducasse project immediately inspired them! Braque's simplified forms, Matisse's cut-out papers summoned, 2 meetings, 3 essays and 4 templates later, two ceramic window swallows came out of Studio Bordelais in two shades. One is close to the bronze hue that illuminates the new clothes of our Grand Vin and the main architectural elements of the Renaissance project, the other wears a dress in Studio Primitive's favorite color: a dark metallic blue, the even moreover which distinguishes so well the swallows of windows from their rustic cousins, of shore or rock !

#grandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #revelerlhistoire #remettreenlumierelelieu #batirlavenir #citadin #pantone #dorure #hirondelles #biodiversité #avecvue

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With a view : an exceptional panorama over the Gironde Estuary !

The exceptional location of Château GRAND-PUY DUCASSE in the heart of the town of Pauillac, facing the Gironde Estuary, owes nothing to chance.

Indeed, at the time of its construction, it was through the rivers and their tributaries that the wine market was able to develop internationally and prosper. The Ducasse Family, owner in 1820, was not mistaken ! We can easily imagine the barrels from the wine estate rolling to the boats in the port and then traveling around the world… As part of the writing of the Renaissance project, allowing our friends and customers to embrace this magnificent and peaceful view of the Gironde estuary, very early on seemed obvious to us. A choice view of one of the main witnesses to the history of Pauillac and the irresistible growth of its wines!

Dans le cadre de l’écriture du projet Renaissance, permettre à nos amis et clients d’embrasser cette vue magnifique et paisible sur l’estuaire de la Gironde, nous est très tôt apparu comme une évidence.  Une vue de choix sur l’un des principaux témoins de l’histoire de Pauillac et de l’essor irrésistible de ses vins !

#grandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #revelerlhistoire #remettreenlumierelelieu #batirlavenir #citadin #pantone #dorure #avecvue #panoramique

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Pantone Bronze

The third piece of this great puzzle that is the Renaissance project is the new label of Château Grand-Puy Ducasse. It had not changed significantly for over 100 years ! The Castle is placed back in the center of the label and the coat of arms now finds its place on the capsule. We were keen to keep the historic motto "Regis Semper Amici" (Friends forever), a strong and very symbolic phrase.

#renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #grandpuyducasse #revelerlhistoire #remettreenlumierelelieu #batirlavenir #citadin #pantone #dorure #bronze

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Urban Style

It is a rather unique adjective to describe a winery and yet ...
If you have travelled along the Gironde estuary from Bordeaux to Saint-Estèphe, you will have passed Château Grand-Puy Ducasse by the docks in Pauillac. Château Grand-Puy Ducasse is an exception in the Médoc. The unique location of the château and its winery and barrel storage facilities on the banks of the Gironde is one of its most distinctive and valuable features. From 1820 to 2020, all of the property’s vintages were vinified on this site, as the port of Pauillac flourished, serving as a stopover for ships from all four corners of the world on their way to and from Bordeaux. A rich heritage that we are committed to preserving and promoting !

#chateaugrandpuyducasse #renaissancedegrandpuyducasse #renaissance #remettreenlumierelelieu #revelerlhistoire #batirlavenir #citadin

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Renaissance

Project code name : Renaissance !

Your mission, because you accepted it, will take you only 2 minutes per month over 15 months

Goals :

#1 Providing Château Grand-Puy Ducasse with a technical tool worthy of its unique terroir
#2 Equiping Grand-Puy Ducasse with amazing facilities to welcome clients and make them living a unique experience
#3 Revealing its unknown story
#4 Participating in the influence of the city of Pauillac and the Médoc
#5 Welcoming a large public

Target : Tous amateurs de grands vins

##renaissanceofgrandpuyducasse #renaissance #revealingthestory #remettreenlumierelelieu #buildingthefuture

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