Winemaker
Philippe Baillarguet
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Saint Etienne De Lisse, France
i. Biography
At Clos des Baies, his work is grounded in clay-limestone soils, organic viticulture, small yields, and cellar decisions he treats as final. The language may be spare, but the discipline behind it is exacting: a style shaped by patience, precision, and the conviction that every gesture in the vineyard and cellar matters.
Coming Up
Philippe Baillarguet began his career as cellar master at Château Moulin Saint Georges in Saint-Émilion until 1997. He moved on to Château Ausone, where he has served as cellar master since 1997. Over time, the rhythm of his work has been defined by continuity rather than reinvention, building experience cellar by cellar and season by season. Since 2010, Philippe has also been winegrower and winemaker of Clos des Baies, bringing a steady hand and deep experience to both estates. The dual responsibility reflects a career spent balancing the practical demands of farming with the exacting judgments of winemaking, always with an eye toward consistency and control.
Where They Are Now
“I was lucky enough to find beautiful clay-limestone soils in Saint-Laurent des Combes. This place thrilled me. This was in 2010, when Clos des Baies started up.” The sentence captures both the surprise and the clarity of his attachment to the site: a place that offered not just opportunity, but a sense of direction. His farming and cellar language is equally unsentimental and rooted in craft. “It’s a job for the long game and I’m always working small yields.” The phrasing suggests a method built on restraint, where what is removed can matter as much as what remains. He is just as direct about the cellar itself, where choices cannot be undone once made. “Winemaking is a barrage of decisions that will have an irreversible impact on the wine.” For Philippe, that pressure appears to be part of the discipline rather than a deterrent: a reminder that the wine is made not only by the vineyard, but by the succession of decisions that follow it.
Signature
Philippe's signature wines include Face Baies.
In Their Words “I have always worked the vines of Clos des Baies organically, consequently obtaining the “Ecocert” label (2023).” “Winemaking is a barrage of decisions that will have an irreversible impact on the wine.”
Honors
The formal marker arrived in 2023: “I have always worked the vines of Clos des Baies organically, consequently obtaining the “Ecocert” label (2023).”
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Philippe
Where did Philippe Baillarguet work before?
Philippe Baillarguet's earlier career included Château Moulin Saint Georges.
