The house Duclot has the discreet charm of the historic merchants of Bordeaux, recognized for its professionalism. Since her arrival in 2014, the dynamic Ariane Khaida has done ground work to give visibility and legibility in order to finally promote the name of the house with a wider audience.
Duclot depends on the holding Videlot, which belongs to the family Moueix, also owner of Pétrus. The house sells three million bottles a year and includes three complementary branches. A first, responsible for selling wine to individuals, through six stores: Cave des Galeries Lafayette, Chateaunet at Plaine St Denis and Malakoff, Chai & Bar in Brussels, Badie and L'Intendant in Bordeaux and two websites chateaunet.com and chateauprimeur.com (dedicated to Primeurs). A second branch aims at referencing wine with foreign importers and distributors. And a third branch is dedicated to the restaurants: brasseries, bistrots and beautiful addresses of the French cuisine including starred restaurants. More than half of the 200 employees of the holding company have the sacred mission of selling, a distribution that says a lot about the close relationship with consumers and differs from the traditional model usually encountered in tradng companies. “Our asset and our values are based on proximity. In addition to the historic offices of Bordeaux and Paris, we opened an office in Nice to cover the Southeast and at export, after New York and Los Angeles, we settled 2 years ago in Hong Kong. This proximity, offering an ever more personalized service, developing a qualitative distribution for our grand wines is our DNA,” says Ariane.
Another part of Duclot's DNA: its portfolio of wines, largely dominated by Bordeaux. Although Duclot has just bought in July Philippe Noye's agency of Loire estates (including Clos Rougeard, or Dagueneau), promoting the radiance of Bordeaux wines remains its spearhead. A leading force in the distribution of Bordeaux's grand vins, historically anchored as a major player in the Bordeaux negoce, mastering the subtle and complex art of distributing Crus Classés, Ariane Khaida likes to recall the prescribing and 'hunting' side of her profession: “We are delighted to detect changes in properties, new treasures like Château Fonplégade and we have also been supporting for fifteen years some 'small' domains in Bordeaux with which we have established a confident relationship.”
In parallel with this strategy of development and consolidation, Ariane Khaida is banking on a new communication strategy: it is now a question of emerging from the shadows and making Duclot a brand, a unique signature. The structure Duclot is organizing to become visible: Bordeaux Millésimes becomes Duclot Export and the structure dedicated to the restaurants, Duclot La Vinicole. But for the general public, the signal is the La Cave du Gourmet, 450 sqm in the heart of Galeries Lafayette Boulevard Haussman becomes, Duclot La Cave. “It's about capitalizing on our name. We are recognized by our peers, it is time we extend this visibility to the general public. Our brand has a real legitimacy,” says Ariane, definitively breaking with the discretion of the Bordeaux wine houses.
Bénédicte Chapard
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