Between phalanxes of fiercely partisan wine buffs, there’s a kind of Maginot Line: On one side are the defenders of Old World wines, which are firmly structured, earthy or mineral (rather than fruity), and slow to mature. On the other side are those who favor New World wines, which are typically opulent in fruit, often high in alcohol, and ready to drink early on.

Currently, New World wines seem to have the upper hand, while Old World wines are standing their ground. In particular, there is a lot of head-shaking at the sad state of Bordeaux. The region’s wine culture is seen as arrogant, or worse – inflexibly tied to a classification of properties that has hardly changed since 1855. Here in America, Bordeaux wines have been losing market share for years.

Enter 69-year-old Bernard Magrez, a lifelong Bordelais, yet a man with not a whit of patience for the local wine establishment.Well-financed after selling his huge beverage business two years ago, Mr. Magrez has quickly created a stable of 32 wine properties, mainly in Bordeaux, which pay more respect to his own vision of winemaking than to the hallowed French classification system.That vision puts a priority on acquiring unsung vineyards with good potential, then sparing nothing to make wine of the highest quality. Famed oenologist Michel Rolland, a believer in fully ripe wines, often consults. The happy result of this strategy is a set of Magrez wines that straddle the styles of New and Old World.

Consider a red Bordeaux called Excellence de Bois Pertuis ($45 at Morrell). Never heard of it? Neither had I until a white-gloved butler served the 2003 Excellence de Bois Pertuis at a dinner hosted by Mr. Magrez last September in Bordeaux. This aromatic wine, a special selection from the obscure Chateau Bois Pertuis, tasted of ripe black cherries underpinned by a snap of licorice. Fruity and accessible at an age when traditional Bordeaux can be severe, this wine was refined, even suave. Yet the 100% merlot Excellence de Bois Pertuis is classified only as basic Bordeaux, the lowest rung on the region’s bureaucratic ladder.

Chateau Bois Pertuis owes its lowly status to its isolation on the northern edge of the Bordeaux region, reachable only after driving past miles of deep forest. The regular chateau bottling is merely good, and, at around $18, is priced accordingly. But Excellence de Bois Pertuis, a selection of individually picked and destemmed grapes vinified in new oak barrels, shows what can be produced from unheralded yet good vineyard soil when all the stops are pulled.

Consider also Chateau La Tour Carnet, an ancient property in the Medoc, recently purchased by Mr. Magrez. For decades, the wines of La Tour Carnet were not nearly as impressive as their romantic site. They could be downright nasty-tasting, in fact. But the just-released 2003 vintage is strides ahead of any previous La Tour Carnet. A classic Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, and petit verdot, the wine is dark and powerful. Less overtly fruity than Excellence de Bois Pertuis, it has deeper wells of flavor inflected by cassis rather than by cherry. Priced at $19.97 at PJ Wines, it makes you wonder why many other Bordeaux wines are priced so high. Mr. Magrez’s private jet is named La Tour Carnet.

The wine map of Bordeaux is dotted with previously underachieving appellations where Mr. Magrez has created new excitement. In the Premieres Cotes de Blaye, for example, he’s resuscitated Chateau Perenne, which now makes a ripe and fleshy red wine and a poised white wine made from 100% sauvignon blanc aged in new oak, a luxury unheard of for a lowly Cru Bourgeois.In outlying Lussac Saint-Emilion, normally a poor second cousin to Saint-Emilion itself, Chateau la Croix d’Esperance is shining. In Saint-Emilion, Mr. Magrez purchased Chateau Fombrauge, the largest property in the appellation but long underperforming. With the 2000 vintage, his first at the property, he pulled off a coup by creating a special bottling called Magrez-Fombrauge. Specially selected from three “sweet spots” in the vineyard, the grapes got the ultimate in tender loving care. After Robert Parker rated the wine at 100 points, the price of Magrez-Fombrauge 2000 shot up to nearly $400 a bottle.

Like Excellence de Bois Pertuis, Magrez-Fombrauge is what Mr. Magrez calls a “cuvee d’exception.” He has a dozen of them, each limited to about 500 cases. These luxury bottlings don’t last long in the marketplace, and that’s precisely the point. “If you want to buy a certain desirable handbag at Hermes,” the proprietor says, “you may not find it available.That’s the nature of an exceptional product.”

While Mr. Magrez’s empire is composed mostly of makeovers of obscure vineyards, his flagship property is the illustrious Chateau Pape Clement in Graves. Created 700 years ago by the first French pope, Pape Clement was once in the family of Mr. Magrez’s wife.You’ll know that the proprietor is on the premises if you see his dark blue Hummer in the driveway. Pape Clement is currently going from strength to strength.The 2002 and 2003 vintages are superb, and the 2004 now in barrel could turn out to be the best yet.

One hears whispers in Bordeaux wine circles that the ambitious Mr. Magrez would like to crown his empire by buying one of the five First Growths, should one come up for sale – possibly even nearby Chateau Haut-Brion. But when I asked him about that rumor, he denied it emphatically. “I don’t want to buy a First Growth,” Mr. Magrez said. “I want to make Pape Clement as good as a First Growth.” And he just might.

The largest local selection of Bernard Magrez wines is at PJ Wines, 4898 Broadway, between 204th and 207th streets, 212-567-5500, www.pjwine.com.