Guillaume-Alexandre Marx
Sales Manager Domaines Clarence Dillon
Châteaux Haut-Brion, La Mission H-B, Quintus
Presentation
Gerda: Can you tell us about your background?
Guillaume-Alexandre Marx: My first professional experience was in California in the board sports industry for the Volcom brand. After that, I went to Australia to continue my training in sports management and marketing. I then returned to Europe to work in the watchmaking industry in Geneva, Switzerland, for Rolex. I was initially responsible for managing promotional material, both for their sporting activities (golf, sailing, motor sports, horse riding, tennis) and commercial activities (POS, clocks, gifts and other items), then I joined the sales team at their subsidiary in Mexico City. After this Latin experience, I came back to Switzerland to work for the luxury watch brand Parmigiani Fleurier, owned by the Sandoz Family Foundation, which also owns prestigious hotels such as Le Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, where one of Anne-Sophie Pic’s restaurants is located. During my 8 years there, I was in charge of the Asia-Pacific market, then I set up and ran the subsidiary in Dubai, which managed the whole of Africa, the Middle East and India
G: And how did you end up in Bordeaux?
GAM: I’ve been a fervent wine lover for over 20 years. When I was working in the watch industry, this passion led me to carry out a number of projects in collaboration with the wine industry. During my holidays, I took the opportunity to visit as many wine-growing regions and estates as possible, both in France and abroad. Coming from the south-west of France, it was only natural that my first discoveries and emotions were with the wines of Bordeaux. One year, two lucky coincidences led me to meet Mr Jean-Philippe Delmas, and when I heard that he was looking for a sales manager for the Domaine Clarence Dillon properties, I immediately tried my luck and applied. It’s now more than six years since I left the United Arab Emirates and joined the Dillon family.
Properties & Brands
G: What, in your opinion, characterises an exceptional property?
GAM: For me, there are three essential elements:
1. Terroir. More specifically, quality and respect for the terroir. Many Châteaux have extended their terroir by buying up plots of vines of lesser quality than the historic heart of the estate. At Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion, we have kept the vineyards as they were when we bought them in 1935 and 1983 respectively, with very few changes.
2. People. We are fortunate to have an extraordinary owner family who do everything possible to maintain this level of excellence. What’s more, the Delmas family, stewards since 1923, bring continuity to the know-how of exceptional wines.
3. Vision. As in the great watchmaking houses, where the fundamentals remain constant, you have to know how to evolve with continuity. We apply the same philosophy to Haut-Brion as we do to La Mission Haut Brion. As a result, the same winemakers look after the vines at both estates, and the same cellar workers work in both vats. We provide both estates with the same resources and the same attention to detail in the making of our wines, vintage after vintage.
With this long-term vision in mind, in 2011 the Dillon family acquired some splendid plots of land on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion to create Château Quintus. The Gallo-Romans, who created the vineyards of Saint-Emilion, used to name their fifth child Quintus (fifth). The Dillon family already had four great wines, Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion, both red and white, so they decided to pay tribute to their glorious predecessors by renaming the estate Château Quintus. Our ambition is to bring this estate up to the same level of quality and recognition as our two Left Bank properties and to make one of the greatest wines of the Right Bank. Today, more than 10 years later, we have 45 hectares of vines.
Quintus has a rather Burgundian approach, if you’ll forgive the allegory. The grand vin is made from all the vines on the limestone plateau, the finest plots, like a Burgundy grand cru; the plots on the hillside and lower slopes are used for Dragon de Quintus, like a Premier Cru; and the vines on the plain produce our Saint-Émilion, the equivalent of a Village appellation. We also produce bulk wine for our trading house Clarence Dillon Wines, which since 2005 has been producing a branded wine called Clarendelle, designed to be the gateway to the world of Domaine Clarence Dillon. At Quintus, thanks to its terroir, soils and exposure, we have three very distinct types of soil, which translates into different qualities of wine, so there’s something for every taste and every budget, which is very stimulating from a commercial point of view.
At our two Left Bank estates, the approach is quite different, as all the plots on each estate are likely to be included in the blend of the grand vin. Every year, our teams strive to select the highest quality parcels for our four great wines. This elitist approach is based on excellence: we only keep the best depending on the vintage.
G: What are your goals for Quintus?
GAM: For us, the main goal is quality. It is the recognition of Château Quintus as one of the greatest wines of the Right Bank that we are seeking above all. We want to sublimate the terroir and, as with Haut-Brion and La Mission, make an exceptional wine. With this in mind, in May 2022 we organised a tasting in London with a panel of 28 wine professionals made up of renowned critics as well as international buyers. We presented Quintus in a blind tasting, from the 2011 to 2018 vintages, alongside Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie and Figeac, which we consider to be among the greatest Saint-Émilion wines. The aim was to see where we stood in relation to these Saint-Émilion icons. We observed a significant qualitative evolution, with 2015 marking a turning point and 2016 being extraordinary in its precision, finesse and elegance. In 2021, when we bought an additional 15ha of vines on the limestone plateau, we gave ourselves the opportunity, thanks to the blending process that is the hallmark of Bordeaux, to go even further in the parcel-by-parcel selection to make a great wine that is even more complete. This considerably enhances the mid-palate, especially in vintages considered classic.
G: What do you think of today’s wine rating systems?
GAM: I think that the end consumer is gradually becoming detached from them, because there is an exponential number of critics and we no longer know where to turn and who to listen to. On the other hand, some of them enable professional buyers to reassure themselves about the perception they may have when they taste a wine en primeur or as a deliverable, and thus strengthen their sales arguments. I have the feeling, perhaps wrongly, that the points are no longer a trigger for a purchase, but a validation by a third party of a sought-after quality that the end customer will discover a few years later. I like to point out that wine, unlike a luxury product (such as a watch, a piece of jewellery, a car, a piece of clothing, leather goods, etc.) is one of the only products in the world that you buy without really knowing what’s in the bottle before you open it. In many cases, we rely on the advice of a wine expert, a sommelier, an agent, a distributor, an importer, a merchant, a broker or, in recent years, influencers on social networks. With easier access to information, wine lovers are becoming increasingly erudite and are less and less likely to follow notes and more likely to follow advice given by someone they trust and who has similar tastes to their own.
The market Today & Tomorrow
G: The Bordeaux wine market is currently going through a crisis. What do you think are the main factors?
GAM: There are several factors. The main factor is the price variation between two vintages. Many of our customers are still very confused about this. For example, for the 70 most sought-after Bordeaux crus, the price variations were +20% between 2019 and 2020, then no drop between 2020 and 2021 even though the quality of the vintage was much lower, followed by an increase of +22% for 2022 to finish with a drop of almost -23% for 2023, which is also qualitatively better than 2021 but is priced at almost the same level. All this is destabilising for consumers, who can no longer find any coherence, especially as the value of their purchases diminishes from year to year. Not to mention the fact that once the wines are available on the market (at the wine shop or restaurant), there can be even greater disparities between vintages. For example, even though each vintage is unique and of varying quality, the price can double. This lack of consistency and logic is detrimental to Bordeaux, because customers don’t necessarily understand all the ins and outs, and we lose them through lack of stability and confidence. The second factor is linked to changing lifestyles. People are increasingly health-conscious and influenced by social networks. Alcohol is increasingly demonised. People are drinking less and less. Combined with ever-increasing prices, with no corresponding increase in purchasing power, this is leading customers to reduce their consumption. So putting a bottle on the table is no longer a priority.
Another factor is intergenerational transmission. At my grandparents’ house, there used to always be a bottle of wine on the table. At my parents’, it was in the evening and at weekends. Nowadays, there’s no wine except for dinners with friends, celebrations or special occasions. Children no longer see their parents drinking wine, and this tradition is tending to disappear. There’s also the problem of storage. Our clientele is increasingly urban. And in cities, rental prices are rising and living space is shrinking, leaving less room for our bottles. This is changing buying behaviour. We’ve noticed this with La Cave du Châteaux, which is part of our wine shop business and where we offer a wide range of wines from all over France. More and more people are buying a bottle to drink on the day. They’re no longer thinking ahead and buying good bottles to keep for years, in the hope that they’ll be able to appreciate in value. If people used to buy six bottles to resell two of them to finance part of the other four, that no longer happens. Finally, competition is increasingly fierce, with a large number of winegrowers and a wide variety of wines, which is making the market even tighter in all regions of France and abroad.
G: In your opinion, is this crisis cyclical or structural?
GAM: What’s more delicate is the structural aspect: hygienisation and reduced spending combined with a lack of cultural transmission. That’s what we need to work on in Bordeaux, to think differently and find solutions.
G: What do you think will be the solutions to get Bordeaux out of this crisis?
GAM: We’ve already talked about this. First of all, the price for the end customer is key. For each wine, we need to know who our customers are and what they are prepared to pay for a bottle of our wine. It also has to ensure that the entire distribution chain is properly remunerated, and remain consistent and coherent in terms of release prices, especially for Primeurs. In short, nothing innovative, just a return to the fundamentals that have put Bordeaux at the forefront of the wine world for decades. Then, there’s always the educational aspect to work on, as intergenerational transmission has all but disappeared. I think we need to put the spotlight back on the art of the table in its entirety, which represents real French know-how. This culture is still promoted in our properties, with French-style service for example, and also in our double Michelin-starred Parisian restaurant, Le Clarence, where the art of the table and gastronomy are highlighted daily by our brigade. It’s essential to evolve and innovate while respecting our past. We have to make the opening of our bottles less sacred, while maintaining a high level of environmental standards. There’s a lot of educational work to be done. It’s important to show that Bordeaux wines are not just wines for laying down. Wines from recent vintages can be enjoyed from their earliest youth, provided they are well made and well matched.
G: In Bordeaux, we have a very special Place system. Is this open distribution system always an advantage for the importers and distributors who are the trade’s customers?
GAM: In terms of distribution, the Place de Bordeaux is a fantastic tool. However, today we’re facing both economic and structural problems. It’s up to us, the châteaux, to get out there and raise the profile of our properties. It’s crucial to show the market our values and our products. It’s essential to generate desirability for our wines, and then the negociants know how to relay the message in terms of distribution. Many houses have excellent sales teams. Competition between negociant offering the same products can sometimes put off some buyers. However, there are some very good négociants who offer an exceptional range and high-quality customer service while maintaining their selling prices. Whether it’s Haut Brion, La Mission, Quintus or any other luxury brand, the quality of the product is paramount and a prerequisite. On the other hand, after-sales service is just as crucial. The job of an estate sales manager is to select the merchants and establish solid relationships with our customers on the ground so that the whole chain works in a virtuous way.
G: Like us, you specialise in top-of-the-range wines, but is there still a future for Petits Châteaux in Bordeaux?
GAM: I think there’s a future for everyone as long as we work with integrity. Customers are not naive. If you work seriously and offer the right prices, there’s no reason why small estates can’t do well. In Bordeaux, we have exceptional terroirs and high-quality grape varieties. In recent years, we have never produced so many good vintages. It’s up to us to innovate while preserving our values and boosting the market. It’s essential to be present in restaurants, wine bars and on the various markets, and to maintain close relationships with our customers, sommeliers and wine merchants. This work is crucial, even if it is costly and time-consuming.
G: In recent years, we’ve seen an interest from the market in wines produced outside Bordeaux coming to La Place. How do you explain this trend?
GAM: This trend is mainly linked to the strong and immediate value of these wines. In Bordeaux, we are seeing very high prices, which is making resales increasingly complex and distorting margins for our customers, whether they are merchants, importers or distributors. On the other hand, foreign wines, as a novelty, initially attracted more people and generated higher margins. There is perhaps less competition for some of these products. However, with the current crisis, this bubble is also starting to deflate. Personally, I’m convinced that there are already enough estates in Bordeaux to work Bordeaux wines properly rather than concentrating on foreign wines. Of course, there are exceptions like Opus One, Almaviva, Dominus linked to Bordeaux properties and other iconic wines outside Bordeaux. But looking for niche wines in the Italian, Spanish or other markets doesn’t seem relevant to me.
Wine & Emotion
G: Finally, can you recall one or more wines that have marked your life as a great wine taster? Could you describe the emotion you felt?
GAM: There are several, but the one that comes to mind first is a Château Haut-Brion 1945. During my first Primeurs campaign, I met an American customer who had this bottle in his cellar and wanted to drink it with someone from the estate. To make the moment even more special, we agreed to open it on 8 May. In addition to its highly symbolic value, this bottle was quite simply magical: with great finesse and elegance, it exuded real nobility, with beautiful fruit. Everything was perfectly integrated, exquisitely delicate, truly everything we love about Haut-Brion: aromas of cigar, cedar wood, white truffle, game, hints of reglissée, the whole evolving in a subtle silky smoothness. The wine’s length on the palate seemed endless, with an insolent freshness. It was an incredible experience. I’ve tasted other exceptional vintages from our estates, such as 1959, 1961, 1975, 1982 and 1989, but the 1945 remains unforgettable for me as a Frenchman. It’s the strongest emotion that comes to mind. There’s a moment when everything stops, and in that timeless moment, I ask myself: ‘Is what I’m drinking really real? What makes wine so special is the sharing and emotions it evokes, whether it’s an iconic wine or an everyday bottle. No other product in the world can offer so many sensations.
Gerda BEZIADE has an incredible passion for wine, and possesses a perfect knowledge of Bordeaux acquired within prestigious wine merchants for 25 years. Gerda joins Roland Coiffe & Associés in order to bring you, through “Inside La PLACE” more information about the estate we sell.