{"id":23807,"date":"2022-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/2022\/12\/20\/inside-la-place-trilogy-logistics-chateau-margaux-1-3\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T15:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T15:23:35","slug":"inside-la-place-trilogy-logistics-chateau-margaux-1-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2022\/12\/20\/inside-la-place-trilogy-logistics-chateau-margaux-1-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside La Place – Trilogy logistics : Ch\u00e2teau Margaux 1\/3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The preparation of an order by the <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Margaux (Step 1\/3)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Margaux\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1er Grand Cru Class\u00e9 en 1855<\/p>\n

Margaux<\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Deputy Managing Director, Marketing and Operations<\/p>\n

Working at the estate since 2006<\/p>\n

Met by Gerda<\/p>\n

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Through a logistics trilogy<\/strong>, we would like to share with you the life of a wine, from the bottling to the wine’s arrival at the distributor.<\/em><\/p>\n

In step 1<\/strong>, Aur\u00e9lien VALANCE from Ch\u00e2teau MARGAUX (below), explains the preparation process from bottling to the collection by the merchant.<\/em><\/p>\n

In step 2,<\/strong> David VIDAL (Warehouse’s director) presents the storage environment of the negociant.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, step 3<\/strong>, Patrick BONGARD from HILLEBRAND-BORDEAUX (DHL group), explains the environment of logistics and transport of goods to their destination.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The logistics of fine wines, i.e. what happens from bottling to the arrival of the cases at our customers’ premises, requires a great deal of rigor and precision on the part of all those involved.<\/span><\/p>\n

This logistics goes through several steps, starting with the chateau orders. We have chosen to interview Aur\u00e9lien VALANCE from Ch\u00e2teau Margaux.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: Aur\u00e9lien, are your bottlings done at the ch\u00e2teau, and how?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong><\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0From the bottling of the 2021 vintage, we will have our own bottling line again. Until then, and for several years, we subcontracted the operation to a service provider who came to install it on the property. We decided to reinvest in a bottling-chain because technological advances are now stable. Before, there were regular innovations in these technologies.\u00a0We believe that there will be no more significant technical advances and that it was time to make this investment. We now want to master this task internally with our dedicated Ch\u00e2teau Margaux team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: Is the storage of non-marketed en primeur wines done in your cellars? Under what conditions?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong>: All our bottles of Ch\u00e2teau Margaux, Pavillon Rouge and Pavillon Blanc are stored in our cellars at a constant temperature of 15\u00b0C and a humidity of 70%. The bottles have only a thin cap to protect the cork.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: You provide access to your physical stock inventory to negociant with some latitude in choosing formats and vintages. When a physical stock purchase is placed by a negociant, can you describe the process for handling this order?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong>: We have a computer system, an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), which allows us to follow all the preparation steps with precision. One person fetches the bottles from stock, another one fetches raw materials, all our labels are in a safe.\u00a0During the bottling process, each bottle is marked with a unique number which is laser engraved in the glass thanks to a machine allowing traceability.\u00a0At the bottom of each bottle, there is also a datamatrix<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>code which is a type of two-dimensional barcode with high density. This code is unique and gives all the storage information. Each bottle is labeled, capped, and equipped with a prooftag<\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next step could be compared to going through security at an airport! Each bottle is photographed in 360\u00b0. This is computer intelligence that allows us to immediately detect a possible problem, for example, two stuck labels… It also allows us to have proof of quality, for example, if we have a complaint about a bottle being too low or about the absence of a back label. I have proof that the bottle left the estate correctly.<\/p>\n

Also, our traceability system, born in 1997: the datamatrix is an essential tool. All the information linked to the bottle is kept in the case number, in the bottle number, in the case datamatrix and in the bottle datamatrix. It also includes logistical information such as the pick-up date. This way I can, if necessary, know the life of the bottle.<\/p>\n

We only accept refrigerated trucks for the logistics of our wines and we take the temperature of each truck upon arrival. Sometimes drivers turn on the air conditioning just before arrival at the Ch\u00e2teau. The truck is therefore not cool enough. We refuse to let it leave as long as it is 20 degrees or more inside.<\/p>\n

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Gerda<\/strong><\/em>: <\/span>Do you re-taste vintages before marketing them?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/span><\/strong><\/span>: Yes, we do re-taste old vintages, but not for that purpose. We often open old vintages when important people visit the estate. We have confidence in our wines and I can tell you that we know all the vintages of Ch\u00e2teau Margaux from the last fifty years by heart. We will never sell a vintage that has not given us complete satisfaction or that has seemed dubious during tastings.<\/p>\n

Gerda: Do you change the corks of old vintages?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/span><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0All the levels of our bottles and corks have been checked and only perfect bottles leave our cellar. Two to three years ago, we completed this thorough check of all our bottles. All the bottles to be reconditioned were first put under nitrogen, so they never had any contact with oxygen, and then we tasted them. For this operation, a bottle is used to perform the topping up and to level the wine. We put a little bit of SO2 (sulfur dioxide) before putting the cork on which is noted the year of reconditioning. All these reconditioned bottles are set aside and we do not sell them for 5 years from that date. After this period, we taste the wine again and if we feel that the wine has recovered perfectly from the reconditioning operation, then we can consider selling it again. If this is not the case, the wine is still on hold.<\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>:\u00a0\u00a0Are your outstanding whites treated differently from the reds in your stocks?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/span><\/strong><\/span>: As I mentioned, we are very observant of our stock. We are also very careful with our white wines. Prior to the 2017 vintage, our white wines were put in clear bottles. We have a storage area dedicated solely to all our whites. The light in this storage place is orange, the same light that is used in Champagne, it protects the wine better. Since the 2017 vintage, we made the decision to put all our white wines in the same bottle as Chateau Margaux, a very dark glass that protects the wine better.<\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: What criteria do you take into account when deciding to recork a batch of bottles?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span> We have two criteria: wine level in the bottle, and the cork appearance.<\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: Do you give the buyers of your wines a certain flexibility in terms of choice of formats and packing?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong><\/span>: Yes, but not everything is possible.<\/p>\n

En Primeur, we offer the following cases: wooden case of 1, 3, 6 or 12 bottles of 75 cl and the following formats: half-bottle, bottle, magnum, double-magnum (3L) and imperial (6L). We have some Balthazar (12-liter) sizes in stock, but they will only be offered for very special projects or charity events. We want to keep a certain stock of our large formats, so if we have very little stock of imperial (6-liter) of a certain vintage for example, we will stop selling them.<\/p>\n

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credit photo @bricebraastad<\/p>\n

Gerda<\/span>: Do you have tools to identify wines and authenticate bottles available to consumers?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lien Valance<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0For more than 20 years, we have implemented a number of measures to allow better traceability of our bottles. Here are some of them. All our bottles :<\/p>\n