Marc Lépine: Reviving a Family Legacy at Château Bizard

From Industrial Maintenance to Winemaking

Marc Lépine is the owner of Château Bizard. He started his career in 1971 in the industrial maintenance sector and sold his business in 1992 to become the President of the Commercial Court of Le Mans. He held this position until the early 2000s before dedicating himself fully to restoring the family vineyard property that has been in his family for five generations.

As a child, I used to help with the harvest at my grandfather's estate, to which I was very attached. Upon his death, my grandfather bequeathed the property to my mother’s brother. The problem was that he was more interested in music than in viticulture. He had all the vines removed and sold all the land. It was a real tragedy! I felt the need to reconnect with my roots and revive our viticultural heritage from its ashes.

When his uncle passed away in 1979, Marc purchased a run-down house from his cousin with a clear goal in mind: to restore the property of his childhood to its former glory. Twenty-five years later, the estate now encompasses 16 hectares of vines, as well as cereal crops, lavandin, and truffles. The first vines were planted in 2000, and the first harvest took place in 2003.

AOC Grignan-les-Adhémar: A Relatively Unknown Appellation

The Château Bizard vineyard produces an average of 800 hectoliters of wine per year. Marc, who lives in Le Mans, has entrusted a team of 5 people to Vincent Bouyer. This oenologist, who honed his skills at a major vineyard in Spain, has been working as the estate manager at Château Bizard since 2014.

The Grignan-les-Adhémar appellation spans 1,800 hectares and is located 10 km south of Montélimar and Bollène, on the left bank of the Rhône River. Château Bizard, whose first harvest dates back to 1862, has changed appellations three times: Côte du Rhône from 1929, Coteaux du Tricastin in 1973, and finally Grignan-les-Adhémar in 2010. The appellation’s grape variety palette is broad: Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsault for red wines; Clairette, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, and Viognier for white wines.

Powerful, Rounded, and Aromatic Wines

The Grignan-les-Adhémar vines are highly exposed to the sun, but the cooling Mistral wind tempers the heat, giving this appellation generous, complex, and distinctive wines.

The range at Château Bizard, which also includes a few wines from the AOC Côtes du Rhône, fully meets these criteria. It includes 2 white wines, 5 red wines, and 1 rosé wine, all of which are rounded, aromatic, and powerful, benefiting from aging in barrel or tank.

Currently, we are working on releasing a very high-end 100% Syrah wine from the 2015 vintage. It should be available for sale in early 2018, announces Marc.