In a way, the wines of the Médoc are his. With more than 190 hectares and 6 castles, Jean Guyon is indeed the first owner of the region. Its wines, mainly crus bourgeois, are touring the world, notably through a strong presence in the business classes of airlines. Meeting with this former interior decorator, who became one of the strong men of Bordeaux wine.
By Romain Rivière
When you have run the Médoc, it is a sure sign that we have become a true medocain !
(laughs) Indeed, I ran 7 marathons, and only the Médoc one. The three In the last few years, we have reached the podium as a team. The Running is an extraordinary sport that makes us high for 6 months, and the finish of a race such as the marathon is always confused with a huge personal pride. And even though I’m not a running nut – my record being close to 4 hours -, I like the values of this race beyond its sporting dimension: the conviviality and the good These are the same values of the art of living that make me want to be a part of this also love my job.
How does one go from the Boulle school to the crus bourgeois?
A At the end of the 80’s, I was leading a career in the promotion real estate and interior design. I divided my time between France, the United States and the Middle East. So I was quite far from the but I often criticized the wine and the winemakers, until one day I I wondered if I would be able to do it myself. I therefore to make wine, with the will to exploit the terroir of the north of the Médoc where I bought 2 hectares of vineyards, on the edge of the Gironde, and to to produce a good wine for friends. But very quickly, I realized that he was complicated to develop with 2 hectares and to set up a communication and a strong distribution network, so I seized the opportunity opportunities that have arisen over the years by buying out hectares until 2013, the year of the acquisition of Château Greysac and its 90 hectares. It is this sequence that has allowed us to develop the domain, which today produces nearly 1.3 million bottles per year, marketed worldwide.
With 192 hectares in the Médoc, you can you are in a way the strong man of the region. This gives you a some responsibility…
I have wanted from the start that the north of the Médoc be recognized and that the winegrowers of the region are also for the quality of their terroirs. I think we has succeeded in showing that there is more to life than just the names in the Médoc, which have a say in world trade. Our responsibility is perhaps, with all our colleagues who show themselves also very dynamic, to have known how to pull up a soil which it is deserved and which lived until then in the shadow of the great appellations.
Are your wines the same as they were 30 years?
They have evolved significantly. And this, for the simple reason that I do not I didn’t know much about it when I arrived. My luck, at the beginning, was to start with only 2 hectares. This allowed me to do some silly things, try many things by freeing myself from codes and habits of the Médoc, in terms of cultivation, wine-making and equipment. I was able to freely put aside what didn’t work, and kept and improved what was working. Today, of course, we master perfectly and in fact, our wines are much more elaborate. Upper Condissas is a good example, as is Rollan de By.
By placing art at the center of your vineyards before the others, you have also broken the codes…
Usually Indeed, I placed artworks before it became a trend. But the intention was not so much to break the codes as to be myself. I did not never wanted to fit into a mold, my only motivation being to make the things according to my vision. Art is part of me. I was practically raised in the drawers of a Louis XV chest of drawers since my father was an antique dealer. Myself, I went to the Boulle school before becoming an interior designer, so well Obviously, art interests me and has always interested me. There have always been at home and it was logical that it should be visible in my castles. It is in this logic that I asked local artists from the beginning to tag my cellar.
What dimension of art do you is she interested?
First I am interested in what brings me a vibration. But I keep a passion for Flemish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries. All natures and the representations of interiors of houses, which show us the the way generations lived in those days – the set tables, the clothes… -, I am passionate about. I have made a rather exciting collection of them, today divided between Brussels where I live, Paris and Bordeaux.
Many airline business classes serve your wines on board. A great achievement!
It is indeed a feat, considering the difficulty of placing wines on board aircraft. The competition is terrible, as the stakes are high in terms of and market: at Air France, for example, we deliver 50 per cent of our 000 bottles every two months, which means that 450,000 passengers, at on board the company, read comments from the world’s best sommelier saying that they hold in their hands the best wines of the Medoc. Imagine what is at stake! Moreover, this strong presence in the airline industry – Air France, Emirates, Qatar Airways, United Airlines… – proves that our wines compete with the most prestigious names. And it is a great pride. It is partly thanks to this lever that we have been able to raise Chateau Greysac to the top of the of the best-selling Médoc châteaux in the United States, where we sell 200,000 bottles per year.
You have acquired a new property in Saint-Emilion, the Château de la Fleur-Perey, far from the north of the Médoc. Why Saint-Emilion ?
I have bought 10 hectares in Saint-Emilion, in grand cru, with Jean-Luc Marteau, my cellar master, who has been on the property for 20 years. He had already bought a castle there, the Tour Perey, on 2 hectares. And when he told me informed that a nearby vineyard was for sale, but that he could not go there alone, I decided to help him, to get involved with him, with the objective that he can make its own vineyard within 10 years. We released our first vintage this fall, and it is very promising.
