Behold, The Garden Wine Of Bordeaux!

December 15, 2025

Behold, The Garden Wine Of Bordeaux!

Radical, rule-flouting and steeped in the jeopardy of outright rejection are not speculations one remotely associates with the wines of Bordeaux. But then, acclaimed international sommelier Marco Pelletier doesn’t do status quo even if his first dabble with winemaking happens to be in the conservative home of wine itself. Pelletier hit pause on his spectacularly successful sommelier career to set off on a oenological adventure in Bordeaux’s Libournais commune to create Le Galouchey, a wine that’s bonafide Bordeaux but is called anything but. Pelletier was open from the onset about his personal aspiration of eventually making a wine himself and took the plunge in 2002 and only Bordeaux would do. He however took an approach that departed from everything a typical Bordeaux estate would do. His decisions immediately raised eyebrows with a Vin De France classification and the intention to make a Vin de Jardin (garden wine).

He plumped for an entirely organic approach, shunning pesticides and tended to his vineyard by hand only, fermenting nine grapes with indigenous yeasts. The resulting wine clocked its first vintage in 2009 and has since, enamoured and divided critics over this unconventional singe vineyard blend that is made in Bordeaux but isn’t called Bordeaux. The wine also awakens most borderline Bordeaux drinkers to the novel concepts of field blends and garden wine. There’s certainly a long list of La Galouchey’s illuminating distinctions is crowned by the generic Vin De France classification, a choice that would confound most Chateaux that covet higher recognition. So instead of needlessly challenging you to a long form lowdown on our newest, revolutionary Bordeaux, you can take it all in with just six sumptuous sips. Cheers!

Marco Pelletier, The Somm

Marco Pelletier originally from Canada vaulted to cult status as a sommelier across France, elevating the likes of the three-star Michelin restaurant Taillevent and Epicure before opening his own signature bistro Vantre, unsurprisingly winning global acclaim for his wine selection. In 2002, Marco began pursuing his lifelong passion of making a Bordeaux wine with personal creative flair, vinifying his first vintage in 2009.

The Micro Estate

Domaine de la Galouchey is a boutique Chateau in Libournais on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. The estate takes a creative, liberal approach to winemaking that goes beyond Bordeaux traditions, divining a “Vin de Jardin” (garden wine) field blend from noble red grapes, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Vin de Jardin

French for garden wine, Vin de Jardin is a rare and liberal classification that lets winemakers do their own thing and blend a variety of grapes without restrictions. Multiple grapes are crushed and naturally ferment together. The wine is aged in older barrels so that the fruit and terroir are highlighted rather than the oak.

Field Blend, really?

A field blend is a freewheeling ancient wine style produced from a variety of grapes planted side by side in the same vineyard and are picked, crushed and ferment together, giving the eventual blend a sense of a true blend.

A Bordeaux You Can’t Call Bordeaux!

Marco Pelletier makes a cult Bordeaux he doesn’t call a Bordeaux and neither should you. Let’s call it a Vin de France (VDF), a general classification that frees up the winemaker to highlight the grape rather than region. VDF as the name reveals is simply French wine made from French grapes, anywhere in the country.

The Wine Itself

Le Galouchey Vin de France 2020

A Vin de Jardin classic, this most unconventional of Bordeaux styles elevates the classic blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to wholesome boundaries of generous fruit, mostly black fruit, cherry and touch of spice, tapering towards a long tannic finish. Smart ageing in careful selected second use barrels, smoothens this cool field blend that brings Bordeaux into the 21^st century. Enjoy.