Bernard Magrez, a taste for challenge

DISCOVER HIS LIFE JOURNEY

Beautiful emotions await you.

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A life’s combat

Bordeaux, 1936. War hadn’t yet broken out in France, but it wouldn’t be long before it reared its ugly head. It was during these troubled times that Bernard Magrez was born. A strict upbringing taught him his first lessons in life. But being taught lessons without properly learning from them served no purpose for him. Amidst the turmoil, his vision was clear, and an extraordinary inner strength took root in him.

At 16, he left school and went into the wine trade. As a completely self-taught young man, his greatest allies were his self-discipline, rigour and the knowledge he acquired from his books. Bernard Magrez was already the Bernard Magrez we know today.

The future began
with a dream

It was now 1961, and Bernard Magrez was 25 years old. His ambition drove him forward into a world of limitless opportunities. He travelled to the USA and discovered there a hitherto unknown mode of retailing –the hypermarket store. On his return to France, he set up his own company, specialised in whisky and port.

His port brand was sold in the very first Carrefour hypermarket in France and was soon to become the second most popular brand of port in the country. Gradually, he widened his range of spirits, until eventually these completely conquered the market. The time had now come to set his sights even higher.

A life’s passion

By 1979, Bernard Magrez had reinvented himself and diversified. His career had been one of constant evolution. Ever-alert, his sights were now fixed on the bigger picture, as he readied himself for the next big step forward towards greater successes. And yet, his next exciting venture might never have come to pass without a key moment occurring earlier in his career:

twenty years previously, when he had joined the wine trade, he fell head-over-heels in love with wine. Now, in a return to those beginnings and like a personal homage to them, he created the Malesan wines and launched the sales of the Sidi Brahim brand, a wine that came straight out of the Algerian Atlas mountains. The Bernard Magrez that the whole world would come to know had now laid the foundations of his renown.

The winning quartet

─

In the 1980s, Bernard Magrez’s decision to focus on top-end wine estates, proved a crucial turning point in his career.

His first acquisition was Château Pape Clément, the famous Graves Grand Cru Classé, which had been classified for some thirty years by then. Next came Château Fombrauge, a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé; Château La Tour Carnet, a Médoc Grand Cru Classé since 1855; then, among another eighteen renowned wine estates in France, Clos Haut Peyraguey, a Sauternes Premier Grand Cru Classé. It proved a four-fold masterstroke and made him the only person to own four prestigious wine estates at the same time.

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Château Pape Clément Cru Classé de Graves

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Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

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Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

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Clos Haut-Peyraguey Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes en 1855

A passion
without borders

Since there was no good reason to stay within the confines of familiar territory, and because his passion for making new discoveries was still burning strong, Bernard Magrez characteristically looked further afield. He subsequently acquired vineyards in eight different countries: Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and the USA.

A total of 43 wine estates made up of over 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of vines. What better illustration of this man’s taste for challenge!

WINES OF THE WORLD

A unique place, in which each guest can feel at home

Now that his passion for wine had fully taken hold, it was time for him to develop and diversify it.

In launching “La Grande Maison” in Bordeaux under the direction of Chef Pierre Gagnaire, Bernard Magrez succeeded in creating a unique address, where luxury hospitality and fine-dining combine with elegance to offer select terroir produce on the one hand and the excitement of a gourmet experience on the other. In this convivial yet intimate location, the concept of sharing was raised to an art-form.

WHERE TO STAY
TASTE OUR WINES
PRIVATE EVENTS

Art is a living thing.
It draws its existence from each of us,
and from what surrounds us

It was now October 2011. Château Labottière, located within central Bordeaux, had just become the Bernard Magrez Cultural Institute, a place where sponsors could support and receive numerous contemporary artists and help enhance their reputations.

The concept was for the Institute to provide a shared platform for artistic creation, while giving opportunities to the public to interact and make new discoveries. Each of us could thus renew and deepen our connections with culture and inspirational works.

Bernard Magrez’s passion for art however didn’t stop there. In 2016, his Bernard Magrez Foundation entrusted four musical instruments judged to be “World Treasures” to four highly-promising musicians. Whether the focus is tradition or innovation, history or the future, Bernard Magrez’s commitment and support are given in a perfectly balanced way.

Art & culture

The Bergonié
Institute

The fight against cancer (and medical research into it) is a cause which is very close to Bernard Magrez’s heart.

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An orphanage
in Thailand

Bernard Magrez made an undertaking to ensure that 82 orphaned or abandoned children from Buriram, a disadvantaged province in Thailand, have a future.

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Injustice as
the enemy

─

With enthusiasm and determination as his sole credentials, Bernard Magrez learned over the years how to create opportunities. The world he built up reflects as much his strength of character as his passions. But his extraordinary career has made him acutely aware that not all human beings are born equal in terms of prosperity.

He therefore provides support for La Maison de L’Espoir (The House of Hope), a Thai orphanage which is home to 80 children, who are given the comforts of educational training, medical care, recreational activities and also the opportunity to learn a trade in farming.

Elsewhere, his support in the fight against cancer in France has won him the “Prix de La Charte de Paris” award, while the Bergonié foundation in Bordeaux and the International Research Institute for Rare Cancers benefit every year from his substantial involvement.

Excellence always prospers
from innovation

To ensure that his wine estates are meticulously looked after, Bernard Magrez targets perfection as always. And it is technological innovation that now underpins his vine-growing strategy. Sensor-equipped drones monitor the vines; the estates’ Scientific Centre works tirelessly to detect outbreaks of many types of disease; while weather hazards are monitored by two weather stations, plot by plot, on a daily basis.

The Château Fombrauge estate has acquired the latest generation electric robot for vineyards as an efficient alternative to using herbicides, while Château Pape Clément has been equipped with digitally-connected barrels.

Last but not least, since 2016, each bottle coming from a Bernard Magrez Grand Cru estate carries an authentication seal, making its traceability transparent for consumers. These are just some examples of how innovation underpins excellence.

INNOVATION & ENVIRONMENT

Our Wines

Grands Crus Classés

Château Pape Clément Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Château Pape Clément Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

Clos Haut-Peyraguey Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes en 1855

Clos Haut-Peyraguey Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes en 1855

& Assimilated estates

Château Les Grands Chênes

Come stay with us

Our Châteaux and Hotels

Château Pape Clément

Pessac-Léognan

Château Pape Clément

Pessac-Léognan

Château La Tour Carnet

Haut-Médoc

Château La Tour Carnet

Haut-Médoc

Château Fombrauge

Saint-Emilion

Château Fombrauge

Saint-Emilion

Take a tour and taste

Our Estates

Château Pape Clément Cru Classé de Graves

Château Pape Clément Cru Classé de Graves

Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

Learn more about wine

The Bernard Magrez Wine Academy

Create your own wine in the B-Winemaker workshop

Your private function

Hold your event at one of our special locations

Function rooms

Wedding receptions

Professional events

Our wines from the south of France and the rest of the world

Acanthe Hôtel

Bordeaux

Discover all our special offers

Discover more Wine Academy special offers in our section “All our special offers”.

Customised events

Bernard Magrez, a taste for challenge

Beautiful emotions await you.

A life’s combat

The future began with a dream

A life’s passion

The winning quartet

Château Pape Clément Cru Classé de Graves

Château La Tour Carnet Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc

Château Fombrauge Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion

Clos Haut-Peyraguey Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes en 1855

A passion without borders

A unique place, in which each guest can feel at home

Art is a living thing. It draws its existence from each of us, and from what surrounds us

The Bergonié Institute

An orphanage in Thailand

Injustice as the enemy

Excellence always prospers from innovation

Join the Bernard Magrez Club to benefit from many advantages on our wines and our wine tourism experiences

The future began
with a dream

A passion
without borders

Art is a living thing.
It draws its existence from each of us,
and from what surrounds us

The Bergonié
Institute

An orphanage
in Thailand

Injustice as
the enemy

Excellence always prospers
from innovation