Château Malartic-Lagraviere

Yannick Alléno and Château Malartic-Lagravière: a Perfect Match

The twice 3-starred chef Yannick Alléno and Château Malartic-Lagravière have been working together for two years, driven by the same quest for excellence, purity of taste, mastery of technique and enrichment of terroir.

This long-term partnership has led the Michelin-starred chef and the Bonnie family, owners of this Graves classified wine, to think deeply about food and wine pairings for the chef’s culinary creations and the various vintages produced by Château Malartic-Lagravière.

Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie is delighted with the collaboration: “Yannick Alléno is an exceptional artisan and an iconic figure in French gastronomy. He pioneered the distinctive, contemporary style of cooking we now know as “Modern Cuisine” – a cuisine that aims to reconcile perfect mastery of the techniques from French haute cuisine with a true creative ambition, in which research plays a predominant role. We were immediately won over by his approach. In addition, there are a lot of parallels and similarities between the chef’s work in the kitchen and our work in the vineyard. The process of enriching the terroir through extraction and fermentation as advocated by Yannick Alléno is also central to our endeavours as winegrowers at Château Malartic-Lagravière.” 

The latest pairing to come out of this collaboration is a 2005 Château Malartic-Lagravière Red alongside a Stroganoff-inspired Grade 4 Wagyu beef served two ways. To accompany this exceptional vintage, Yannick Alléno has composed a modern version served two ways of this classic gourmet dish, which has its origins in Russia. The delicate spicy flavours of this dish go wonderfully with the wine from Château Malartic-Lagravière with its silky tannins and blackberry, blueberry and liquorice notes, with a pleasant spiciness on the finish.

Yannick Alléno will be the Chef at the Fête de la Fleur 2017 

For the Bonnie family, Yannick Alléno was an obvious choice as the chef to create the dinner at the prestigious Fête de la Fleur, which will take place on Wednesday 21 June 2017 at Château Malartic-Lagravière. The chef, who is also a wine-aficionado will prepare an exclusive menu to match some of the most sumptuous Bordeaux Classified Growths, including those of Château Malartic-Lagravière.

Yannick Alléno adds, “to me wine is a great passion; I’m fascinated by vineyard work and the immense know-how and skills needed to accomplish it. I like to talk with winegrowers. Some have had a fundamental influence on our modern cuisine; blending or the understanding of terroir through the process of fermentation are, amongst others, viticultural notions we apply on an every-day basis in our preparations. I’m convinced that a modern cuisine is a cuisine based on sauces, able to magnify the marvellous bottles that are part of a great dinner. Malartic-Lagravière is a château which I much appreciate, and I feel particularly honoured to have been chosen to celebrate Fête de la Fleur with a dinner we intend to make exceptional. “

This year 1,500 professionals from the wine and spirits industry will be invited to the Fête de la Fleur, organised by the Commanderie du Bontemps Médoc et Graves, Sauternes et Barsac, which will also mark the 20th anniversary of the Bonnie family’s ownership of Château Malartic-Lagravière and will close the 19th Vinexpo Bordeaux.

About Château Malartic-Lagravière 

Since acquiring Château Malartic-Lagravière in 1997, the Bonnie family has continued to work tirelessly, with passion and commitment, to perfect the estate’s wines. The Bonnie family and their team develop complex, balanced, elegant wines, so tailored they can be considered ‘haute-couture’. The estate, whose quality terroir had been renowned for centuries and which used to belong the family of Comte Hippolyte Maurès de Malartic, was known under the name of Domaine de la Gravière until 1850, when it changed name  to take on its current name of Château Malartic-Lagravière. Since the 18thcentury, only three families have watched over its destiny, when the Bonnie family took it over and carried it to the highest level. This year, the Bonnie family celebrate their 20thanniversary at the head of the property.

About Yannick Alléno 

Yannick Alléno belongs to the exclusive circle of the world’s greatest chefs. Driven by his passion, he has dedicated his life to promoting a strong, quintessentially French style of cuisine, rich in tradition and ambitiously creative. His visionary approach to the culinary arts, boldly combining know-how and excellence, leads him to experiment endlessly, to find the purity and the quintessence of flavour. With an inquiring mind and exceptionally high standards, he constantly pushes the boundaries and is laying the foundations of a truly personal style of cuisine: Modern Cuisine.

About the Fête de la Fleur

The Fête de la Fleur has been organised by the Commanderie du Bontemps du Médoc, des Graves, de Sauternes et Barsac since 1959. It celebrates the flowering of the vine and is now the formal gathering of winegrowers, merchants, brokers and wine connoisseurs from all over the world. This prestigious festival is attended by numerous leading figures from the French and international wine scene, helping to spread the influence and image of fine Bordeaux wines throughout the world.

Originally named “Domaine de la Gravière”, this estate is located in Bordeaux’s most ancient winegrowing district.

Domaine de Lagravière, recognized since time immemorial for its excellent terroir, was purchased at the end of the eighteenth century by the family of Count Hippolyte de Maurès de Malartic. Serving the armies of the Kings of France, this Admiral fought against the English on the many seas of the world, showing special bravery in 1756 during the battle of Quebec.

The estate was then bought in 1850 by Madame Arnaud Ricard, who added the name Malartic to that of Lagravière as a tribute to the former owners.

After land reorganisation and the acquisition of some small plots, the estate took on the form which it was to keep until the 1950s.

The Marly family were the last of the Ricard ancestry to run the Château. Of particular note, Jacques Marly was estate manager from 1947 to 1990.

Having enjoyed an excellent reputation from the beginning of the nineteenth century, Château Malartic-Lagravière was one of only six properties in Bordeaux to enter the 1953 Graves classification for both its red and white wines.

At the end of 1996, the Château entered a new era with the arrival of the Bonnie family.

The historic birthplace of Bordeaux wines Nothing outstanding can be achieved without an exceptional terroir.

Château Malartic-Lagravière is situated on a high terrace that has been deeply etched by the Eau Blanche stream and its tributaries. It sits on 8-meter-deep deposits of gravelly soil dating from the Quaternary period.
The evocative name of ‘Lagravière’ underlines the great quality manifest in the soils of this vineyard, reputed for its location on the finest gravel hillock in Léognan.

Whilst the layer of gravel makes for excellent surface drainage, the shell-rich limestone sub-soil, made up of fossils from warm seas and veins of clay, store large amounts of water. This ensures an adequate supply for the vine, even during the most severe droughts.
The permeable soil, perfect amounts of sunshine and limited vulnerability to the vagaries of the weather are all favourable factors. These have been further enhanced by the ‘sur mesure’ – tailored approach to the management of the vines that has been pursued by the Bonnie family ever since their arrival.

Respect for traditions and modern techniques

Designed with architect Bernard Mazières in 1998, the winery was one of the first to adopt a grape transport system entirely by gravity: after manual harvests and double sorting on vibrating tables, grapes are transported to the vats and then to the barrels only by gravity.

The vat room is also highly innovative. 
Its octagonal layout houses 20 stainless steel vats and 10 wooden ones, all conical and temperature-controlled. Being small, each one can accommodate the fruit from specific plots for individual vinification.