Profile Château Lagrange Winery, Bordeaux

Profile of Château Lagrange Winery

There are few estates in Bordeaux that have the ‘wow’ factor quite like this one. Château Lagrange is an imposing and immense estate unrivalled in the region for the scale and grandeur of its buildings. Although it is positioned quite far inland, it seems to stretch forever towards the Gironde estuary; visitors are even afforded a view from the Bell-tower! Its origins as a wine estate date back to the 1630’s and it remained in the Cours family until 1712. A distant relative, Charles de Branne inherited it and ran it successfully for many years after. Another relative, Jean Cabarrus, brought the estate in 1976 and made substantial improvement to the vineyards. Then, the politician Comte Duchatel owned the estate from 1842 to 1875, and at this time it was renowned as the largest estate in the Medoc region.

Granted size isn’t everything, but until this point, Lagrange looked set to enjoy a pretty rosy future. However the next owner was a rather mad Englishman who built an aviary inside the Château for his collection of exotic birds. Imagine the mess! He was arguably more interested in his collection of cockatiels than making wine. Gradually the vineyards shrank. The owner from 1925 was Manuel Cendoya, but as the depression sank in, he began selling off the vineyards. Things began to look bleak for the estate, and would not improve for many years.

Salvation came in form of a Japanese company, Suntory, who brought Lagrange in 1983. By the time they took control there were only 56 hectares of vineyards, mostly Merlot. The energy and time they put into the restoration of the property was nothing short of phenomenal. Suntory spent a small fortune on the estate, investing almost 19 million pounds in a complete renovation of the buildings. Of course, a wine estate is more than pretty buildings, which is why the company hired the talented Macel Ducasse to run the Château, which he did until his retirement in 2007. Under his direction a second wine was created to enhance quality and the vineyards were doubled in size. Lagrange now produces superb wines to match the grandiose nature of its revitalised estate, a definite must see on your tour of this fascinating wine region. Contact us for more info on our “winemaker for a morning” events here.

Address:

Château Lagrange,
St-Julien-Beychevelle, 33250
Bordeaux, France
Tel: +33 (0) 556 73 38 38
Fax: +33 (0) 556 59 26 09
Web: www.chateau-lagrange.com
Email: charlotte.denjean@chateau-lagrange.com

Winery Details
AOC: St-Julien
Classification: Third Growth
Founded: 1630
Owner: Suntory (Japanese company)
Winemaker: Bruno Eynard
Area under Vine: 113 ha
Oak: : French Barriques
Age of Vines: 25 years+
Grape Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadellee
Production: 700,000 bottles

If you are interested in this package, contact us today for more information. This tour can also be adapted for bigger groups with a substantial discount. All of our tours are available year round upon request for your private group of minimum 2 people. If you would like us to customize a luxury gourmet tour for you, contact us with your requirements, and we can send you a free itinerary and quote with no obligations. We organize cooking packages and wine tours from 1 day, to weekends to longer food and wine discoveries throughout Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal & Italy.

Email us at: info@cellartours.com