Château Pichon-Lalande: The Roederer Era
There was no immediate upheaval with the arrival of the Frédéric Rouzaud, not like that seen with the arrival of May-Eliane Lencquesaing. Nevertheless changes were made, albeit small ones at first. Some small-scale renovation of the buildings was undertaken, although nothing on the scale of that seen up and down the Médoc as the profits of recent vintages – sold at the highest prices ever seen in Bordeaux – were ploughed back into local infrastructure. The most significant changes came in early 2011, after a few years of Rouzaud ownership, starting in February of that year when Sylvie Cazes was appointed as director of the estate, replacing Gildas d’Ollone.
Sylvie Cazes (pictured), younger sister to Jean-Michel Cazes who once managed Château Pichon-Baron just across the road, had an impressive curriculum vitae which more than qualified her for the job. She may have started out as an English teacher, but having joined her brother at Château Lynch-Bages, ultimately taking up a position on the board of directors, she subsequently took up a post on the Bordeaux City Council, and in 2008 she was also elected the first female president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. And her work did not stop there, as only a couple of years later it was announced that she would be managing the development of a new Centre of Wine Culture to be built in the Bordeaux region. In July 2011 another new face appeared, as the outgoing Thomas Dô Chi Nam (who left for Château Margaux) was replaced by Philippe Moreau in the role of technical director.
