Something Old, Something New: Château Fourcas-Dupré, 2026
The history of Bordeaux is not written only in its grandest names. There are estates which occupy the peripheries – both in terms of geography and classification – of the region, and yet their stories are woven deep in the fabric of Bordeaux. These stories are preserved in ancient classifications, forgotten documents and the patient work of successive generations, and they can reward exploration.
Sometimes, though, these stories are made anew before our eyes, as an old, overlooked and perhaps even obscure property is pushed once more into the limelight through a modern-day renaissance.
Château Fourcas Dupré is the perfect example of just such a renaissance.
I have driven through the town of Listrac-Médoc and the nearby hamlets of La Potence, Le Tris and Le Fourcas more times than I care to remember. There has never been much cause to pull over, so I have usually kept my foot to the floor; usually I am en route to an appointment further north, somewhere in St Estèphe or perhaps Pauillac. Not even the tumbledown charm of the cellars of Château Fourcas Dupré, with their enviable and easily accessible roadside position, could induce me to lift my foot from the pedal.
Gérard Jicquel, however, did stop to take a look. And he obviously saw some potential here, because in 2019 this hotelier and businessman purchased the estate from long-term proprietors the Pagès family. During the seven years that have since elapsed, the property has been revitalised. Not so much a renaissance; more a rebirth.
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