OUR CHÂTEAU
OUR CHÂTEAU

ITS HISTORY

The history of the château has been fashioned by its successive owners. It was known as Motta-Verta (Motta being Latin for the little elevation on which the Lord’s domain was built, and Verta to describe the greenery of the landscape) before being called Château Talence at the beginning of the 16th century. Among the successive owners were some illustrious families including the Canteloups, Géres, Pierre de Vallier, and Jean Dubernet who, upon his death in 1652, left it to one of his daughters, wife of Gaston de Secondat, baron of Montesquieu and lawyer at the Parliament of Toulouse.

In 1689, the year of the birth of the writer and philosopher Charles Louis de Secondat, baron of La Brède and of Montesquieu, the château was sold to the De la Devise family. After that it was owned by the Cursol family until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1814 it was bought by General Etienne Donna, aide-de-camp to Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, after which it passed into the hands of the De Beaumont family who sold it in 1892 to Honoré Picon whose heirs by the name of Gonfreville then sold it to André Abadie in 1940. Philippe Pieraerts bought it from Abadie’s heirs in 1981. The estate has been owned by Andy Lench since 2007.

Here is an extract from the Carignan book, its past, its history (In French).

OUR TEAM

The men and women of Château Carignan are driven by a shared passion for the earth and the vines. We share the same values and a deep love of our profession, whatever our role may be. Each of us contributes our knowledge, curiosity and talent to create great wines that reflect the terroir and which we take great pleasure in sharing with you.

OUR CHÂTEAU

MEET OUR TEAM

OUR EXPERTISE

The Château produces wines under the Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, situated in the region of Entre-deux-Mers on the slopes dominating the right bank of the Garonne River, an appellation recognised since 1973.

Come and discover our vines, our terroirs, our work in the cellar, and our winemaking methods.

IN THE VINEYARD

IN THE CELLAR

Discover and visit CARIGNAN

Château Carignan is situated in Carignan de Bordeaux, just outside of Bordeaux. The estate spreads over 150 hectares with 65 hectares devoted to vines. When you come to visit, you will be greeted by a superb contemporary artwork created by an admirer of Picasso, Miguel Berrocal, as well as a beautiful rose garden. You will be able to visit the cellars in which the wine is blended and aged with their equipment on a par with that of the most famous Bordeaux wineries.


We propose visits and tasting sessions by appointment so please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information:  [email protected]
In the meantime, here are some photos to give you an idea of the stunning setting that awaits you at Château Carignan.

VIEW OUR PHOTOS

IN THE VINEYARD
of Château Carignan

Our vines are made up of Merlot (75%), an early-budding varietal with supple tannins and fruity notes, Cabernet Sauvignon (15%), a varietal that brings structure with notes of red berries, and Cabernet Franc (10%), a balanced varietal with a delicate bouquet. They grow in clay-limestone and clay-stony soils facing south and southwest and attain their full potential in this top-quality terroir.

We apply techniques of reasoned agriculture such as the addition of natural fertilizer, working the soil every other row and alternating from one year to the next to limit erosion and encourage the roots to dig deep into the earth, and mechanical weed control.

The planting densities are between 5000 and 5900 vines per hectare. The double Guyot pruning technique ensures optimal distribution of the grape bunches on each vine and allows better control of yields.

The vines are trellised to obtain sufficient leaf surface and the leaves around the bunches are removed to ensure that the grapes receive lots of sunlight to help them ripen well.

The grapes are harvested using a latest-generation machine equipped with a high-frequency linear destemmer and variable screen roller sorting table to ensure the quality and precision of the harvest.

IN THE CELLAR
of Château Carignan

The winemaking profession is constantly changing thanks to new analytical, IT and technical tools. They enable us to be even more reactive to environmental constraints and to look after the long-term health of our vineyard.

We are currently certified HVE 1 (High Environmental Value level 1), and we are working on an investment program to obtain the level 3 certification which will apply to our entire structure, taking into account environmental, economic, and social aspects, for example insulating our buildings, reducing and controlling energy consumption, and ensuring the well-being and training of our teams, etc. In this framework, we are looking to build a new, more ecological cellar (solar panels, water recovery, optimised insulation, limitation of flows, winemaking using gravity, etc.).

Our winemaking cellars are equipped with temperature-controlled stainless steel and cement tanks with micro oxygenation. They allow us to produce small quantities and to optimise the management of the parcels in our vineyard.

For over 20 years now, we have been using a “turbo pigeur”, a punch down machine which pushes the cap of marc down under the juice and can be used alternately with classic pump overs to extract maximum colour and aromas.

The ageing cellar, also air conditioned, contains stainless steel fermenting tanks with a capacity of 4000 hectolitres with micro oxygenation, and ageing barrels with a capacity of 1350 hectolitres with controlled hygrometry.