Address: Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse 109, rue Achard 33300 Bordeaux France
Telephone: +33 (0)5 56 59 00 40
Website: www.cagrandscrus.com
Email: contact@cagrandscrus.com
Visits: By appointment only
Details: Pauillac, 5ème cru classé, 40ha, sandy-gravel
Vineyards: Cabernet Sauvignon 62%, Merlot Noir 38%
History:
Ducasse family origins in Bordeaux are in the early 18th century, when Arnaud
Ducasse bought a house on the banks of the Gironde estuary from the estate of Ségur. It was descendant Pierre Ducasse, however, who established and developed the vineyard, swapping and adding land, including parts of the gravelly ‘Grand-Puy’ elevation. By the time Pierre died in 1797, the estate, then known as Ducasse-Grand-Puy-Artigues-Arnaud, had grown substantially and included 100 hectares of vines. In 1820, a fine château was built on the site of the original home. The good times ended in the late 19th/early 20th centuries with the arrival of phylloxera, WW1 and recession, and the vineyard stagnated and dwindled. First efforts to rejuvenate it came in 1932 with the formation of a holding company known as Grand-Puy Ducasse, while in 1971 a shake-up in shareholders resulted in considerable restructuring of the vineyard and modernisation of the facilities. The improvements have continued since 2004 under the ownership of CA Grands Crus, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole.
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