Nicolas Thienpont

The Climb

Trained at Sorbonne, Thienpont brought academic formation into a Bordeaux career defined by restraint and long horizons. Since 1994, he has been estate manager of Château Pavie Macquin, a role built on continuity, observation, and steady decision-making. He has served as winemaker at Château Larcis Ducasse in Saint-Émilion since 2002. Across those years, the work was the same in principle: pruning, replanting, adjusting, and waiting for the vineyard to respond. As co-owner of Château Puygueraud, Nicolas extends that same approach into ownership. The throughline across these properties is balance in the vineyard as the basis of character in the glass.

Today

The progress he values is often incremental and hard to see at first: root systems settling, rows replanted, equilibrium restored, and the vineyard finding its own rhythm again.

Signature

The signature wines associated with Nicolas Thienpont include Château Larcis Ducasse, Château Pavie Macquin, Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), and Alcée. Taken together, they show the reach of his work across Saint-Émilion and beyond, with a consistent focus on freshness balanced against concentration, finesse against depth, and a measured sense of place.

In Their Words “As we replant, we bring the density up to between 2,800 and 3,200 vines to bring the yields down and achieve more concentration and depth in the wines.” “When we started, the vineyard was a bit out of balance.”

Recognition

His own vineyard language points to the method behind the work: "As we replant, we bring the density up to between 2,800 and 3,200 vines to bring the yields down and achieve more concentration and depth in the wines." In practical terms, that frames a career built on measured intervention, patient correction, and the idea that harmony in the vineyard underpins the wine that follows.