What Caudalie is known for
Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas founded Caudalie in 1995 after Bordeaux polyphenol researcher Joseph Vercauteren showed them grape-seed antioxidants during a 1993 harvest; they opened the first Vinothérapie Spa at Château Smith Haut Lafitte in 1999.
Caudalie's founding story centers on a specific 1993 encounter. During the grape harvest at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, the Thomas family's Bordeaux vineyard, Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas met Professor Joseph Vercauteren, a polyphenols specialist at the University of Bordeaux's pharmacy school. Vercauteren shared his research finding that procyanidolic oligomers extracted from grape seeds acted as more effective antioxidants than vitamin E. Building on that, Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas launched Caudalie in 1995. The company's signature concept, vinotherapie, was formalized in September 1999 when the couple opened their first Vinotherapie Spa on the chateau grounds, after a hot spring was discovered around 1,500 feet underground on the estate.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — Grape-seed vinotherapy skincare from Bordeaux vines
France.
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