France, Bordeaux

Chateau Beausejour Duffau Lagarosse was built in 1851 by the Laporte family. The Laporte family owned several vineyard estates in the Bordeaux region and were also prosperous wine merchants. In those days, the large chai was used to store and age the most prestigious wines of the Saint Émilion and Pomerol regions (Cheval Blanc, Petrus, Beau-Sejour, Nénin, La Conseillante, ... and Château Beausejour!) The estate was purchased in 1994 by a group of wine loving investors. During this period, the Germain Vineyards Company was in charge of the management and the marketing of the wines. Patricia and Pierre Bernault have owned Château Beauséjour Duffau Lagarosse since December 2004; Pierre himself comes from a family of vine growers, who have been cultivating their own vineyards since 1850. As soon as Patricia and Pierre Bernault bought Beauséjour, Stéphane Derenoncourt and his team got involved in giving them advice on restoration of the vineyard and the soil, as well as on the rigorous stages of the process of making and maturing wine.