Jacques Lurton

Ideas from the New World Winemaker Jacques Lurton is a man constantly in motion. From an illustrious Bordeaux clan, he spent years consulting around the world and created his Islander Estate on Kangaroo Island in Australia.

When he took over as president of Vignobles André Lurton in 2019 after the death of his esteemed father André Lurton, he tapped that New World experience for a new line of affordable single-varietal wines, including a Muscadelle, under the Diane label (dianebyjacqueslurton.com), named after a statue of Roman goddess Diana in the garden at Château Bonnet. He even plans a single-varietal Cabernet Franc at Château de Rochemorin in Pessac-Léognan.

‘I found a company that was static,’ Lurton says. ‘I thought it was necessary to give an input to make it shine again. I love finding new angles that no one has explored.’

His mind has been humming. With numerous châteaux and more than 600ha of vines, there’s plenty of scope. In rethinking cru classé de Graves Château Couhins-Lurton, he introduced a new white and red, Acte ll, ageing them in unusual horizontal sandstone amphorae to obtain pure expression of the fruit. At Château Bonnet (Entre-deux-Mers) he’s using lighter bottles and recycled paper and ink for labels.

Lurton – announced in April this year as the new president of the Syndicat Viticole de Pessac-Léognan, following in the footsteps of his father who held the same position for 18 years – is working on a way to protect against frost without any pollution. He has also just finished a cuvée called Eden, produced under ‘bio-control’ conditions using natural products for plant stimulation in a process that’s ‘similar to homeopathy’. And that’s just the beginning.

‘I love finding new angles that no one has explored’ --------------------------- Jacques Lurton