Portrait
Commitment & Determination
Granddaughter of André Lurton and daughter of Christine Lurton, Mathilde was not raised in a vineyard, Château Bonnet being only a vacation destination for her youth, spent with her maternal grandparents.
It was when her family moved to Bordeaux during her Baccalauréat year that the world of wine began to take hold of her. She studied in Paris, at the EDC Paris Business School, and took advantage of her internships to develop her interest in the world of wine and travel.
"As with everything, there's a secret to wine, but it's a secret it doesn't keep. You can make it tell you: all you have to do is love it, drink it, place it inside yourself. Then it speaks. In complete confidence, it speaks."
Francis Ponge
French writer and poet
Expertise & Know-how
Revealing internships
Mathilde’s first experience of winegrowing came in 2002 with Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St Helena, California, in the wine tourism sector. She discovered the culture of the great Napa Valley wines, and the quality – and value – that can be achieved by prestigious brands such as Insignia, or Opus One from Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi; all the while combining a policy of welcoming the general public, with wineries open to all.
The experience continued in London, at Roberson Wine Merchant, a prestigious and eccentric independent wine merchant on Hight Street Kensington. She would return to this English market a few years later.
In the end, it was an end-of-study internship in South America that decided her definitive path towards the world of wine. Her uncle François Lurton advised her to “do a harvest”, and she left to vinify at his estates, Bodega Piedra Negra in Argentina and Hacienda Araucano in Chile.
From bodegas to castles
Mathilde began her career at Domaines François Lurton in 2007, following her most recent experience in South America (a continent she is particularly fond of). While working as export manager, in 2010 she passed the D.U.A.D. (Diplôme d’Aptitude à la Dégustation) at the ISVV in Bordeaux. This diploma completes her technical vision of wine. Then, in 2014, having acquired a solid commercial foundation through her international experience, she completed her training with a specialized Master’s degree (Wine Estate Manager) at Bordeaux Sciences Agro. An opportunity that enabled her to discover the world of Bordeaux’s Grands Crus classés.
From 2016, she accompanied Domaines François Lurton on their latest Spanish adventure, with the creation of a new Bodega on the D.O. Rueda in Castilla y Leon. Her passion for these terroirs led her to become Managing Director of Bodegas Campo Elíseo and Hermanos Lurton, renowned for their fine wines in Rueda and Toro.
Finally, in 2021, Mathilde, with a wealth of international experience in viticulture and sales, joined the family business, Vignobles André Lurton, as Deputy Managing Director, reporting to her uncle and Group Chairman, Jacques Lurton. In January 2022, she became the Group’s new Managing Director.
Portraits
