Corinne Mentzelopoulos

Coming Up

Institutional formation came first. Trained at Institut d'études politiques de Paris (1979), Corinne Mentzelopoulos entered professional life with a background suited to judgment, policy and long-range responsibility rather than cellar work. The early post at Havas advertising agency placed her in the discipline of image, message and reputation, all of which matter in wine when an estate’s name carries commercial and cultural weight. Holding-company leadership added another register. As head at Primistères holding company, Corinne Mentzelopoulos worked in financial control and corporate responsibility before the move into Bordeaux ownership. For an estate, those are not peripheral skills: capital, patience, governance and timing sit behind the visible bottle. Château Margaux became the point where that prior formation narrowed into wine. Since 2003, Corinne Mentzelopoulos has been owner and operator of Château Margaux, following her earlier management there in 1980. The work belongs to estate custodianship: maintaining a property whose value is carried in land, vintage record, market trust and disciplined continuity.

Where They Are Now

Château Margaux remains the present-tense center of the role. Corinne Mentzelopoulos’s earlier management there in 1980 and her ownership and operation since 2003 connect business formation with one of Bordeaux’s defining estate responsibilities. In wine terms, the through-line is continuity: decisions made in one period remain legible in later bottles, reputations and release cycles. The association with Bordeaux rests on a specific venue, not a general category. Château Margaux, France, is the working site attached to her name through management and ownership. The estate is the place where training, corporate leadership and long-horizon custodianship meet the demands of wine production and reputation. The career sequence is clear: education in Paris in 1979, work at Havas advertising agency, leadership at Primistères holding company, and then Château Margaux. The specialty became Bordeaux wine through ownership, management and estate stewardship rather than through a conventional cellar apprenticeship.

Signature

The named references are Château Margaux Grand Vin and Château Margaux 1983. In this context, Corinne Mentzelopoulos is tied to wines that express an estate name, a vintage record and the judgment required to preserve continuity across time.

In Their Words “My personal culture has taught me to prefer drinking old wine.”

Honors

Corinne Mentzelopoulos has received Wine Spectator Distinguished Service Award (1995). The honor records recognition for service across the wine trade.