Jean Gautreau, owner of the renowned Bordeaux winery Château Sociando-Mallet, has died at the age of 92. He started his career first as a tennis professional and later worked as a courtier and négociant. In 1969 he bought the vineyard in the Haut-Medoc with at that time five hectares of Wenbergen, when he was looking for a château for a Belgian businessman. He renovated the estate buildings from the ground up, built a new barrel cellar, and increased the area under cultivation year after year.
Today the estate has 83 hectares of vineyards and produces around 450,000 bottles per vintage. In May 2019 he celebrated the anniversary of his 50 years of work with the château. His only daughter Sylvie continues to run the estate with her son. She only took over Sociando-Mallet on Jean Gautreau's 90th birthday.
(uka)