Château Duplessis, a Médoc estate with 200 years of history, was acquired by Philippe Ferrier in 2015, who completely renovated it. Today, the property has a new gravity cellar and the grape varieties of its vineyard have been adapted to reflect the terroir of Moulis-en-Médoc, as well as to give the wines a common thread and a recognizable character when tasting.
VertdeVin: What made you buy this property? To change your life/job?
Philippe Ferrier: I was already a winemaker, I was born in the vineyard. I had a property that was in the Bordeaux Supérieur appellation, but it was not very interesting. Château Duplessis belonged to Marie-Laure Lurton, which she sold. So, for my 60th birthday, I wanted to offer myself the Château Duplessis and to renovate it. We built the new gravity cellar and installed temperature-controlled vats. We bought amphorae and barrels, which we renew 30% of every year. But you had to be passionate to start such an adventure. But the satisfaction of the wines I produce today – that’s my reward, let’s say. It’s not enough to just plant vines, you also have to see the terroir. I came here not to make quantity, but to make wine. Wine with a strong reputation. In August 2025, I’ll have been here for 10 years. And now, we’re starting to get a reputation. We are starting to export our wines to British Columbia, Quebec, Canada, California, Washington, San Francisco. We are also present in about fifty cellars in Paris.
Today, we have to make wines that are financially accessible. When I bought this property, I set myself the goal of producing quality wines while remaining in a price range of between 15 and 20 euros. We use high-performance and selective harvesting machines, capable of sorting the grapes well, keeping only the best berries and rejecting impurities and anything that is not ripe. Thanks to this choice, we can offer wines with a very good quality/price ratio. We also try to have a common thread in our wines, freshness, a nice acidity, thanks to which, with subtle differences depending on the vintage, we would be able to recognize the same property.
VertdeVin: Could you talk about the terroir of Château Duplessis?
Philippe Ferrier: The Château is located in the small communal appellation of Moulis-en-Médoc, of just 600 hectares. It must have between 40 and 50 winegrowers, small properties for the most part. Duplessis has 25 ha of very beautiful terroir of the clay-limestone plateau, with about 2 ha of sandy terroir, but under the sand there is also limestone. Everywhere else in the property we have clay-limestone soils, with the rock just 50 cm below. And that is what makes this wine so rich. Our oldest vines are almost 40 years old. In terms of grape varieties, we have mainly Merlot and Cabernets, Petit Verdot (about 1 ha). We have also restructured the vineyard, by reducing the surface area of Merlot and increasing that of Cabernet Franc and Malbec (we have 1.5 ha today). We try to adapt to nature, to the diseases that Merlot is sensitive to, to harvest at the right time. Sometimes it is complicated, but that is the winemaker’s job. You don’t win every time.
From the 2026 harvest, a few percentages of Petit Verdot will be added to the Grand Vin.
The wines of Château Duplessis are characterized by their freshness, their acidity and a mineral frame, coming from the limestone rock, envelopped in an airy and gourmet fruity material. The tannins are supple, polished and melted, but at the same time structured, allowing the wines to develop over the years. Through the vintages of Château Duplessis, we find elegance, delicacy, even a feminine hint.