Pauillac
Located halfway between Bordeaux and Pointe de Grave, Pauillac stretches along Europe’s largest estuary, the Gironde. The undisputed capital of the Médoc wine region, with 18 Crus Classés from 1855, including the top three (Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild, Latour and Mouton-Rothschild), and just a few minutes from the seaside resorts of the Atlantic Ocean, Pauillac opens up a magical world where culture and heritage, fine dining, entertainment and leisure activities come together…
Places and Monuments:
- Airbus A380 landing stage
- The Monument to the People of Pauillac
- The Village Hall
- Pablo Neruda
- The Centenary of Airmail
- The Rotunda
- The Marquis de Lafayette
- The fishing huts on the estuary
- The Aspic Tower
- The Artigues Cave
- Saint Martin’s Church
For further information, visit the Pauillac municipal website.
Château Mouton Rothschild
Acquired in 1853 by Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, the estate has been in the same family for six generations.
The close link between art and wine gives Château Mouton Rothschild its unique character. This is evident in the architecture of the Grand Chai and the new vat house, the Museum of Wine in Art, which houses a collection of precious objects associated with vines and wine, and the space dedicated to exhibiting original works created by leading contemporary artists to illustrate the estate’s labels.
The estate’s reputation stems from the personality of the Baron and his wife. Set within a superb English-style park, the buildings are arranged around a U-shaped courtyard housing the ‘Grand Chai’, designed by the architect Charles Siclis. A veritable ‘theatre of wine’, as Baron Philippe liked to say, this building is imposing in its size and the perfectly straight rows of oak barrels in which this Premier Grand Cru Classé is aged. Next to it, the Rothschild family has displayed its personal collection of artworks depicting vines and wine from antiquity to the present day. A museum of wine in art, which explains the relatively high cost of a visit that is certainly well worth it, particularly for the exceptional collection of labels created since 1945 by the greatest artists, as well as 17th-century German silverware (jugs and goblets from the treasury of the King of Naples). The estate’s wines include: Château Mouton-Rothschild, Le Petit Mouton de Mouton-Rothschild, Aile d’Argent, Château d’Armailhac, Château Clerc Milon, Opus One, Almaviva and Domaine de Baronarques. A host of magical bottles that transport you to another world…
Source: the château’s website and Le Petit Futé
Château Lafite Rothschild
Whilst the first known reference to Lafite dates back to 1234, with a Gombaud de Lafite, abbot of the Monastery of Vertheuil north of Pauillac, the existence of Lafite as a medieval seigneury is attested as early as the 14th century. The name Lafite derives from the Gascon word ‘la hite’, meaning ‘the hill’. There were probably already vineyards on the estate, but it was under the Ségurs, in the 17th century, that the vineyard was organised and Lafite’s reputation as a great wine estate was established. Jacques de Ségur was responsible for planting the Lafite vineyard, around 1670 and in the early 1680s. In 1695, Jacques de Ségur’s heir, Alexandre, married the heiress of Château Latour, and this union produced Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur. The two seigneurial estates of Lafite and Latour were thus united, marking the beginning of a shared wine-growing history.
The vineyard comprises three main areas: the hillsides surrounding the Château, the Carruades plateau adjoining it to the west, and a 4.5-hectare plot in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Estèphe. The total area is 112 hectares, consisting of deep, fine gravel soils mixed with wind-blown sand on a subsoil of Tertiary limestone, well-drained and well-exposed.
The grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (2%).
The average age of the vines is 39 years, but it should be noted that vines under 10 years old are not used in the grand vin, meaning that the average age of the vines producing the grand vin is closer to 45 years. The oldest plot, known as ‘La Gravière’, was planted in 1886.
Source: the château’s website
Château Pibran
Established in the early 20th century and classified as a Cru Bourgeois in 1932, Pibran was acquired by Paul Billa in 1941 and remained in the hands of the Billa family until 1987. During this period, the estate’s reputation was maintained, notably with some excellent vintages in the 1980s. The estate was bought in 1987 by Axa Millésimes, a subsidiary of Axa headed at the time by Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of the neighbouring Château Lynch-Bages. From that date onwards, Pibran benefited, under Daniel Llose, from the expertise of the technical teams at Axa Millésimes and Pichon-Longueville Baron, as well as from significant financial resources.
The vines were replanted, drainage improved and a new winery built. In 2000, Christian Seely succeeded J.-M. Cazes, who was retiring, and has since managed the estate with the support of R. Matignon, Technical Director, and Jacques Boissenot, the renowned Médoc oenologist. Finally, in 2001, the vineyard was significantly expanded with the purchase of the neighbouring Château La Tour Pibran (also a Cru Bourgeois in 1932). Pibran was classified as a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2003.
Located just north of Pauillac and just south of Pontet-Canet, the 17-hectare vineyard stretches across a gravelly hilltop. The grape varieties consist of Merlot (54%), Cabernet Sauvignon (45%) and Petit Verdot (1%). The average age of the vines is 30 years and the planting density is 9,000 vines per hectare. As with Pichon-Longueville Baron, viticulture is both traditional and modern. It follows ‘Integrated Production’ practices and is certified as environmentally friendly. The estate produces a second wine, ‘La Tour Pibran’.
Source: Le Figaro.fr wine website
Château Pontet-Canet
Three families over three centuries
Jean-François de Pontet had made his career at Versailles; highly favoured at court, he had held the post of Grand Equerry to Louis XV. Returning to Guyenne, he became Governor of the Médoc. In 1705, he purchased a few acres of land north of the village of Pauillac to establish a vineyard. A few years later, he added plots in the locality known as Canet. As was the custom at the time, he combined his name with that of the Médoc estate to give the domaine its identity. A century later, Château Pontet-Canet flourished and joined the ranks of the greats by being classified as a Grand Cru Classé in the famous 1855 classification ordered by Emperor Napoleon III.
In 1865, the estate changed hands for the first time, becoming the property of Herman Cruse, a wine merchant. The Cruse family retained ownership of the estate for 110 years, until 1975, when it was purchased by Guy Tesseron, a cognac merchant. Over nearly three centuries, Château Pontet-Canet has had only three owners, three families… A rarity in the Médoc.
Pontet-Canet is biodynamic
In 1895, Charles Skawinski, the estate manager at the time, created a revolutionary cellar, consisting of wooden vats fed by gravity with the aid of a platform running on rails on the first floor.
Since then, Pontet-Canet has returned to this gravity-fed principle by renovating the wooden vat room and adapting it to modern conditions. In 2005, the ‘Nicole’ vat room was inaugurated, based on the same principles as its predecessor but incorporating small truncated-cone-shaped concrete vats.
The use of these two materials is part of the quest for quality, as they provide excellent thermal inertia during the vinification of red wines intended for ageing.
Source: the château’s website
Country:
City:
Visorando Member
Easy 
