History
The property known today as Chateau Branaire-Ducru has a history of winemaking dating back to 1680, when it was part of the famous Beychevelle estate. Following the death of the owner, the massive property was broken into pieces and used to pay off family debt. It was Jean Baptiste Braneyre who purchased the vineyards and created the Chateau Branaire-Ducru estate in 1680. A few decades later, the owner's daughter, Marie Braneyre married Pierre du Luc and had Laurent du Luc who ended up marrying Marie de Chillaud of the Fieux de Larenchere. After the death of Laurent du Luc in 1814, during the penultimate campaign of Napoleon, the Branaire-Ducru estate passed to his wife, Marie, who managed it alone and then passed it on to her two sons. In 1824, Louis and Justin Duluc commissioned a beautiful chateau on the property and named it after the father of their grandmother, Braneyere (but spelled Branaire instead). In 1855, the year of the World's Fair in Paris, Napoleon requested wine samples from the top producers of Bordeaux for what would become the most famous classification system in the world of French wine. Chateau Branaire-Ducru was ranked a Fourth Classified Growth, joining the prestigious family of Bordeaux Grand Crus.
In 1875, the estate was taken over by Gustave Ducru, a distant relative who added his name to the property. After his death and the death of his sister, Zelie Ravez, the property was inherited by three nephews - the Marquis de Carbonnier de Marzac, the Count of Ravez and the Count of Perier de Larsan, deputy of the Gironde. The noble crowns of the latter are still illustrated in the four corners of the estate's wines today. In 1988, Patrick Maroteaux purchased Chateau Branaire-Ducru, bringing a new age to the estate. Maroteaux began modernising the vineyard and winery, reducing yields and increasing vineyard size by 10 hectares. He did so with the help of winemaker Philippe Dhalluin. The winery was redesigned to allow for gravity-led movement of wine into tanks. In 2004, Philippe Dhalluin left Branaire-Ducru for a position as Winemaking Director at Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and was replaced by Jean Dominique Videau. The chateau is now owned by Francois Xavier Maroteaux, who took over after his father passed away in 2017. Over the past few decades Chateau Branaire-Ducru has become known as one of the top values on Bordeaux's Left Bank.