Château Trianon, Grand Cru of the Saint-Emilion appellation, is managed by a duo: Dominique Hébrard, former CEO of the eponymous merchant and ex-administrator of Cheval Blanc, and the Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon, specialized in the luxury sector. Their common ambition is to raise this Saint-Emilion to the level of the greatest wines of the appellation.
Anecdotes abound on Trianon, whose first prestigious traces date back to the 17th century. Some say that a steward of the Sun King would have built and named the chateau Trianon in tribute to the famous outbuildings of Versailles which housed the love of the king and the Marquise of Montespan ... Nevertheless the property was long neglected despite the prestige of its name. Dominique Hébrard acquired it in 2000 with a clear idea in mind: “I had the choice between buying an established property or an estate to revive. I chose to take up this challenge with the ambition to be able to bring the property among the biggest names in Saint-Emilion in 2022, on the occasion of the future ranking”. What's more interesting than to restore such a solar blazon?
It must be said that in this matter, Dominique Hébrard is not an amateur. The former co-owner and director of Château Cheval Blanc, First Grand Cru Classé "A" of Saint-Émilion, and Château Bellefont-Belcier for 10 years - for which he obtained the classification in September 2006 - knows exactly what the conditions are for obtaining, confirming and maintaining excellence in viticulture. For 18 years now, he has shaped, prepared, modeled, carved, polished the terroir of Trianon and taken the necessary decisions for the renovation of the estate. The vast conquest began with major investments in the vineyard and the construction of a production tool up to the harvested berries: a vathouse and a barrel cellar, technically successful. As oon as the lands were bought, he made them analyze with Jean Cordeau's help to detect their secrets: composition, exposure, drainage. He then started restructuring the 10 hectares in order to best reveal the soils composed of sandy-clayey soils on iron and gravels and the specificities of each grape variety. Return to plowing, grass cover, control of the yields for optimal concentration, hand picking, harvest in crates with drastic sorting, did the rest ... Since 2013, Dominique Hébrard relies on the valuable advice of Hubert de Boüard, consulting enologist and co-owner of Angelus. "We have reached a milestone with the arrival of Hubert and Alizée Huet, our winemaker. Until then the wine was lush and palatable, endowed with a certain elegance and little by little we are getting closer to a grand wine, with more finesse, balance and precision", specifies Dominique Hébrard.
Dominique Hebrard reached an additional milestone by forming a partnership in early 2017 with Michel Ohayon, owner of the Financière Immobilière Bordelaise (FIB) group, also holding the legendary Grand Hotel of Bordeaux, Trianon Palace in Versailles or Sheraton Roissy Charles de Gaulle. The current Trianon mansion, built in the mid-nineteenth century on 800 square meters, should soon offer a more majestic face. Luxury accommodations, gourmet dining, and a wellness and spa complex are in the works. At last, the construction of a new cellar is in preparation, to meet the level of requirements demanded by the constant search for quality and respect for the environment.
Bénédicte Chapard
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