Le Château Marchand Bellevue " Rediscover the pleasure of having a drink with friends "

Alain Dufourg is the winegrower of Château Marchand Bellevue, in the Entre-Deux-Mers, in the commune of Targon, where he has been cultivating 33 hectares of vines since 2010. Alain comes from a family of wine growers. As far back as he can remember, Alain has worked his feet in the vineyards. So, as soon as he obtained his BTS diploma in agricultural management and accounting, he joined the family estate from where a formidable adventure in the wine world began.

Alain Dufourg: "Marketing by independent wine merchants is much more in line with my work philosophy".

In 2010, the winegrower left to make his own way with his grandfather's land and gave a new lease of life to the property: he renamed the château "Marchand Bellevue", developed new products and changed distribution channels.I was working in the mass distribution circuit but I couldn't find my way around by responding to calls for tender from the major retailers. The negotiation was only about the price, to the nearest penny," says Alain.He thus decides to turn to the independent wine merchants: "I have developed a network of wine merchants, particularly in Limousin and Auvergne because these are two regions that are not saturated with Bordeaux wines," explains the winemaker. "The marketing by independent wine merchants corresponds much more to my work philosophy because we have real human relations".

ALAIN DUFOURG HAS LEFT THE MASS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK AND PREFERS INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANTS.

At the same time, Alain and Sylvie, his companion who joined him on the domain, are developing the network of sales on the internet and property sales: " We started working with Les Grappes, then Sylvie set up a website to develop online sales. This year, we have the project to develop direct sales to the domain". A beautiful project that will lead to the construction of a tasting room at Château Marchand Bellevue.

Château Marchand Bellevue: the red wines of L'Entre-Deux Mers.

THE BARRELS FOR THE MATURING OF THE DOLMEN CUVÉE AT THE CHÂTEAU MARCHAND BELLEVUE

The 33Ha of vines of Château Marchand Bellevue are exclusively red. And the reason is quite simple: "I don't like dry white wines very much", smiles Alain, "but I can only make wines that I like and that I like. "Chateau Marchand Bellevue is dominated by Merlot, a great Bordeaux grape variety that also rubs shoulders with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, which is less common in the Entre-Deux-Mers area, but is cherished by Alain. "Petit Verdot is a typical grape variety of the Médoc. I appreciate it very much in the blends because it brings peppery, spicy notes and character to the wine," says the winemaker.

Our Coup de Coeur cuvées from Domaine Marchand Bellevue :
. "Dolmaine"-Bordeaux 2015-Rouge
. Château Marchand Bellevue-Rouge 2015

The Château Marchand Bellevue is the start of the shift to sustainable agriculture.

When Alain took a new turn in 2010, he decided to go back to the soil, to the earth and to nature: "I've mellowed down and I wanted to work with respect for the plant". Alain now finds his balance in sustainable agriculture: "I only do treatments if it is necessary, if the pressure of mushrooms is strong or if the risks are high" he assures. Thanks to these well-considered treatments, Alain can work on much higher quality grapes. "The earth is my working tool and I want it to last for a long time, so I try to produce wines that respect the environment and the plant".

Alain Dufourg produces fruity, supple and unctuous red wines.

Alain harvests very ripe grapes. An objective that requires constant monitoring in the vineyards during the month of September, with a lot of observations, before launching the harvest GO. "Fortunately, I can be very reactive. So I can decide at the last moment the date of the harvest", underlines the winemaker.

Once in the cellar, the grapes are pampered in a cellar built on several levels. "Working in gravity allows me to limit the crushing of the grapes and I avoid damaging them", explains Alain.

Grapes are sorted to eliminate all impurities and work on healthy grapes. Before fermentation, Alain does a cold pre-fermentation maceration at 8°C for 3 to 4 days to extract the first fruity notes from the grapes. At the end of the alcoholic fermentation, Alain launches a second maceration, hot (35°C) which allows him to extract tannic matter.

ALAIN DUFOURG PRODUCES ONLY RED WINES AT CHÂTEAU MARCHAND BELLEVUE

These choices are reflected by Alain who wishes to produce "fruity, pleasurable and easy to drink wines. The wines of Château Marchand Bellevue are wines with character, they are tasty, fruity and supple. They have enough tannins to be kept for a few years. »

Finally, if there is one watchword in the Château Marchand Bellevue winery, it is hygiene. "In the cellar, I attach particular importance to hygiene. Indeed, I consider that to make good wine you need a lot of water, and in my cellar, I want impeccable hygiene", confides Alain.

The flagship cuvée of Château Marchand Bellevue : The Dolmen cuvée

Only the Dolmen vintage is aged in new barrels for 18 to 20 months. The other vintages, including Château Marchand Bellevue, are matured in vats for a few months, with monthly racking.

"The Dolmen cuvée is not produced for all vintages," says Alain, "I have to have the quality of wine that goes with it. If I lack tannins in a vintage, wood will dominate the wine. So I prefer not to make cuvées. The Dolmen vintage, I make it when I can, because it has to be top ".

Find the wines of Château Marchand Bellevue here

Manon Mouly (for Les Grappes)