Château Gloria, Château Saint-Pierre, the Girondins de Bordeaux and Jean-Louis Triaud, a true love story
“For the Girondins and the Grands Crus alike, 2009 was a great year” Jean-Louis Triaud was President of FC Girondins de Bordeaux for more than 20 glorious years while owning two Saint-Julien Grands Crus Estates, Châteaux Gloria and Saint-Pierre. Alongside his grandson Sacha, he looks back to a destiny intrinsically linked to the Girondins and Grands Crus in Bordeaux.
Hello Jean-Louis, you became President of the Girondins right at the time when they unexpectedly beat AC Milan in the 1995-96 UEFA cup, do you have any fond memories of this?
Jean-Louis Triaud: That year, the team was struggling and I hurriedly took over from President Alain Afflelou in March. Bordeaux still had a great team, particularly our international trio Lizarazu, Dugarry and Zinédine Zidane, who were still really young at the time. We had lost the first-leg match 2-0 to Milan and before the second leg, the French sports newspaper L’Equipe wrote: “We can’t see how the Bordeaux donkeys could beat the Milanese thoroughbreds in a horse race.” I think that motivated the players (laughs). The Milanese thought it would be a piece of cake, yet we beat them 3-0 at Chaban in an incredible atmosphere. To celebrate us qualifying, I asked Bernard Magrez for 25 cases of Château Pape Clément as a match bonus for the players. I remember him bringing them in front of Château du Haillan.
I imagine that many parallels can be drawn between football and wine in Bordeaux?
Jean-Louis Triaud: My father-in-law Henri Martin was President of the Girondins before me. He ran the club for ten years from 1961 to 1971. He tried to unite the wine world around football by asking various Châteaux to become partners. And on the arches of the Chaban-Delmas stadium, white panels with the names of the partner Châteaux were affixed like sails. But he struggled to find enough estates willing to invest… When I took over as President of the club, I called them back, all the members of the “Grands Crus club”. They had an area of the stadium reserved for partner Châteaux who in return supplied us with wines during official meals and gave us gifts to offer. Not to the referees but to the managers of the other clubs! During European matches in particular, the managers of the foreign clubs were happy to be greeted with Bordeaux wines. It was part of the tradition.
Were some of the Girondins de Bordeaux players wine enthusiasts?
Jean-Louis Triaud: Practically all the players who passed through Bordeaux took an interest in wine. To break away from the football humdrum, we tried to organise nice events around wine. At harvest time, they came to Château Gloria for a relaxed meal. This was also a way for them to discover the local culture. Winegrowing has its charm! Many foreign players looked into it, including the Russian Alexey Smertin and the Brazilian Fernando Menegazzo. Another Brazilian, Jussié, became a Bordeaux wine importer in Brazil. As for the French, Jean-Luc Dogon worked in various Châteaux while Ulrich Ramé, Micoud and Chalmé invested in wine.
What are your fondest sports memories?
Jean-Louis Triaud: We obviously have very fond memories of the titles won. But when I think about it in hindsight, I don’t remember any ecstatic moments. To really enjoy a title, I’d have to have known at the start of the season that we were going to be champions, otherwise it was just a lot of stress! In 2009 as in 1999, we were crowned champions during the final match of the season. The 1999 title won at the last minute at the Parc des Princes thanks to a goal by Pascal Feindouno, right under the nose of the Marseille team, was a pretty sweet moment. The previous year, our coach Roland Courbis had left Bordeaux telling me: “Look, I like Bordeaux a lot but I’m leaving for Marseille because it’s a great club. I know that I have a chance of winning titles there.” At the end of the season, they finished seconds behind us, of course (laughs).
Do the great years for the Girondins coincide with great years for your châteaux?
Jean-Louis Triaud: Definitely and for Bordeaux in general, for that matter. 1996, 2007 and 2008 were very good. As for 2009, the year where we were champions for the second time of my presidency, it was truly extraordinary. Better than everything else. But 1999 was also good! And 2010 was a great vintage too. Normally we should have been champions with the Girondins. We had a huge lead until the winter break and we crumbled for various reasons. This title was made for us, it’s my biggest regret.
What is more difficult mentally: managing a football club or a Grand Cru estate?
Jean-Louis Triaud: Going from the Champions League to the UEFA cup meant the club would lose 15 million francs for a point lost or a goal conceded. Disappointments like these are difficult to accept, sometimes it’s heartbreaking. In football, bad memories are more severe. There are more emotional rollercoasters as the President of a football club. With our wine Estates, I don’t want to be pretentious but we are in the Champion’s League every year! Saint Julien boasts a beneficial environment. It is a truly privileged terroir. In addition, when we look at the map, it is pretty much the only appellation to fall within a very close and homogeneous circle. Saint-Julien is truly exceptional!
Sacha, how did you experience the Girondins’ best moments as the grandson of the President?
Sacha Le Baube Triaud: I was a bit too young to truly appreciate the titles but I experienced them vicariously through my grandfather. Thanks to him I experienced great things later on. I was able to follow the club during European competitions and visit other countries on the continent. When Bordeaux won in Munich, it was magical! The evenings following on from the matches, my grandfather would take me to the changing room, where I would celebrate the victories with players. These are memories I will cherish for life and which make me a diehard fan of the Girondins, even when they are in the National 2 league! A while back, I watched the Stade Briochin-Bordeaux match live on my iPad with my parents-in-law. Despite all their struggles in recent years, I can’t help but watch the matches of a club that has given me such phenomenal memories.
Sacha, if the Girondins got promoted back to League 1, how would you celebrate?
Sacha Le Baube Triaud: If the Girondins moved back up, I’d invite all my friends round who are also fans of the club. And I think we’d do a vertical tasting of Château Saint-Pierre and Château Gloria to celebrate it. We’d open the 1996, 1999 and 2009 vintages, the club’s golden years. And 2017 because it was the last year my grandfather was President. It is also one of the last years we were in the European matches! We would have a wonderful time!
