Chateau Haut Bergey, Pessac Leognac

Description

Chateau Haut Bergey is located in the Bordeaux Graves wine-growing appellation in the Pessac Leognan sub-region. In 1987, the part of Graves containing most of the producers of its most expensive wines, closest to the city Bordeaux itself, created a separate AOC under the name Pessac-Léognan. Pessac Leognan is home to what are considered to be the best Graves wines including Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Laville Haut-Brion.

Chateau Haut Bergey can trace its origins back to the 15th century and has seen many ups and downs over the years – in the 1800s the estate actually stopped producing wine. More recently, in 1991, the estate was bought by Sylviane Garcin-Cathiard and once again has a reputation for producing fine Graves wines. Sylviane’s son Paul Garcin has worked at the Chateau since 2007 and has been in charge of the domaine since 2014. He is converting the Chateau to organic and biodynamic production.

The vineyards are located in the heart of the small village of Leognan and comprises 42 hectares of red grapes and 2 hectares of white grapes – Pessac Leognan is the only appellation that has classified red and white wines form the same terroir. The surface plantings for the red grapes are 43% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec.

Grapes for the Chateau Haut Bergey Rouge are harvested by hand and transported to the winery in 20kg boxes to prevent crushing and oxidation. After the grapes are crushed the juice is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. The wine is aged for 16 to 18 months in oak barrels (50% new) depending on the vintage.