“My brothers are a part of me, each can count on the other, the trust is there. It's like mutual insurance between us: if one day one had a serious health problem, we would ensure their income. » François Bourdillas thus sums up the state of mind that reigns among this brotherhood of winegrowers from Haute Gironde. Sticking together is a way of working and living. And no less than nine members of the family work there every day: four brothers (aged 57 to 69) and five of their children (aged 26 to 40). A significant total that is rarely found in the vineyard.
Cédric and Vincent Bourdillas will start pruning in a few weeks
Guillaume Bonnaud
And there is no shortage of tasks: the Vignobles Bourdillas, whose cellars are in Lansac, have 130 hectares in the AOC Côtes de Bourg, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur. The wines – almost all red – are sold mainly in bulk in bulk, via brokers. The bottles will then be found in supermarkets, for between 5 and 7 euros, and bearing the names of Château Mayne de Bernard or Château Jussas on the labels. This is a viticulture where every penny counts.
Recognized quality
“With the crisis, the situation is stressful. The fall in the Chinese market hurt. We hope to find merchant buyers this winter, at decent prices,” explains Marie, who takes care of the winemaking – with her cousin Salomé – and the commercial side. “To get through it, it’s better to be with family,” she adds. There is hope, because the quality of the work is recognized: in one of the offices, dozens of diplomas obtained during competitions hang on the walls. And the 2024 harvest was good in quantity, while the previous one was cut short by downy mildew.
Guillaume Bonnaud
Nicolas Bourdillas is the mechanic of the property's impressive fleet of equipment
Head to the vineyard plots, where pruning should begin shortly, after the cold snaps which will cause the last leaves to fall. This is where Cédric, 28 years old, is located. “My place is here. I would never have done this job if we weren't with family. That reassures us all. It would be too complicated otherwise. Each of us knows what we have to do and no one steps on each other's toes. » His uncle François starts up: “Viticulture is a hard activity, physically and psychologically. We can count on each other. We never considered, even for a moment, separating. »
Having found a marriage certificate from the 16th century indicating that the family was already on these lands of Haute Gironde reinforces everyone's motivation
The memory of the father is there: “He could no longer do everything alone, the vineyard, the cellar and the administration. At one point, he even threatened to sell. » Unacceptable for the four brothers, who created a Gaec (agricultural group for joint farming) in the 1980s to take over. Two of them, retired, still come “for pleasure, to help and to feel useful”. Having found a marriage certificate from the 16th century indicating that the family was already on these lands of Haute Gironde reinforces everyone's motivation. “As a group, we make better decisions than alone. We have the same vision of the profession,” we say in unison. Then arrive the two family dogs – Napoleon and Iris – and the cat Uriel: they seem to share this communicative solidarity.
Guillaume Bonnaud
Philippe, Salomé, Bernard and Marie prepare bottle shipments
On the other side of the road, in the mechanical workshop, Nicolas is hard at work. He has the youthful strength to twist sheet metal and weld metal rods. To reduce production costs, mechanization has been pushed to the maximum and the equipment fleet is therefore impressive: around ten tractors, five sprayers, two harvesting machines… Everything is maintained on site. To operate the estate, the Bourdillas are only supported by two employees and an apprentice. For the same surface area, certain Médoc grands crus employ more than 50 people.
Theater together
Sophie, the wife of Bernard, one of the four brothers, comes into the discussion – their house is adjoining the cellars – and she works outside. “They argue sometimes, like all families, but they never get angry. I don't see any of them trying to crush the others. » At midday, everyone goes home for lunch and sometimes everyone gets together on weekends, for example for birthdays. Some even do theater together in a local association, in the evening, after debauchery.
It's Wednesday, and Hugo, 4 years old, arrives in Marie's arms. Would he like to work in the vineyards later, like his mother? The answer is no, he would like to be a footballer. At his age, he still has time to change his mind. The Bourdillas are counting on future generations.
