2016 Chateau Lilian Ladouys

The Ladouys family, who later changed their name to Ladouys, sold their vineyard and winery to the Barre family, who maintained the property for over 150 years. In fact, it was the Barres that built the eye-catching chateau on the land, complete with two stone towers.

Over the next handful of decades, Chateau Ladouys changed hands a number of times, and during this time of instability, the land and vines suffered. The quality of the wine tanked, and what had once been a respected chateau had almost completely lost its luster.

Thankfully, in 1989, a new owner, Christian and Lilian Thieblot, rescued the winery and began pouring money into it. They also added ‘Lilian’ to the name. The Thieblot’s are responsible for getting Lilian Ladouys back on its feet, but it was the current owners who have transformed it into the shining star it is today.

Owner Jacky Lorenzetti & the Lorenzetti Family

Today, Chateau Lilian Ladouy is owned by billionaire real estate investor Jacky Lorenzetti and his wife, Françoise. It is estimated that Lornzetti’s real estate company, Foncia, owns somewhere around one million properties worldwide (yes, one million!).

The Lorenzetti’s, who purchased Chateau Lilian Ladouys in 2008, have a keen interest in wine. In addition to Lilian Ladouys, they also own Châteaux Pédesclaux, Issan, and Lafon-Rochet.

Viticulture is a family endeavor for the Lorenzettis, with Jacky and Françoise’s daughter Manon managing the wine portion of her father’s portfolio. It was Manon who initiated the transition to fully organic farming in the vineyard, one that is set to receive its official organic certificate in 2023.

The family’s love of the Lilian Ladouys property is clear. To realize the property’s full potential, Jacky Lorenzetti brought in one of France’s best oenologists, Eric Boissenot, to oversee winemaking. Boissenot also assisted in creating a new multi-year strategy that saw the winery acquire a number of acres from nearby vineyards, including land and vines from neighboring Château Clauzet and Château Tour de Pez. With their recent purchases, the Lorenzettis have nearly doubled the size of Chateau Lilian Ladouys.

The strategy also involved diversifying the vineyards by rebalancing the plots away from a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant planting to a 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc planting.

Chateau Lilian Ladouys owns vineyards around the Saint Estephe appellation, which allows the vineyard to create some lovely Bordeaux blends. 

What is Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel?

The official definition of a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel is a “Médoc châteaux that produce wines of typicity and quality but generally without the breed of their finer aristocratic cousins from the 1855 Classification.”

In other words, Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel is a classification that indicates to consumers that the wine meets an elevated quality threshold. This designation was conceived in 1932 as a way to boost French wine sales for family estates after World War I when Europe was still trying to regain its financial and cultural footing.

In 2003, the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois restructured the classification into three sub-categories: Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, and Cru Bourgeois, as a way to further differentiate quality differences. 

The Alliance des Crus Bourgeois revisits the classification every five years to ensure these chateaus are continuing to produce high-quality wines. Chateau Lilian Ladouys received its Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel certification in 2020, which was the most recent application round.