Château Quinault is a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

from the

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...

within the city of

Libourne Libourne (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Geog ...

, producing Quinault L'Enclos, a

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

counted among the Bordeaux Right Bank ''"supercuvées"'' or ''" vins de garage"''. The estate also produces a

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

, Lafleur de Quinault, and a special ''cuvée'' called L'Absolut de Quinault.

History

A walled

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

in the Libourne suburbs, located in what was until 1973 the satellite appellation Sables-Saint-Émilion, the past of Château Quinault is largely unknown but believed to have originated in the 17th century. In 1930 it was bought by the ''

négociant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

'' Baptiste Mons, while the estate lost 8 hectares expropriated for use as a cemetery. Quinault was inherited by his son-in-law Henri Maleret in 1948, who ran the estate until the 90s.

Alain Raynaud

Upon learning that a German real estate company planned to buy the property and construct a housing development, Dr. Alain Raynaud and Françoise Raynaud acquired Quinault for

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

$3.4 million.transcript
Dr. Raynaud, a former physician and president of the ''Union des Grands Crus'' (1994–2000), is also owner of the Pomerol estates Château La Croix-de-Gay and Château La Fleur-de-Gay and supervises production at Château Lascombes, while he is often exemplified by media as a friend of Robert Parker, and has a reputation as a "Bordeaux maverick". The Raynauds made substantial investments to the estate while applying some techniques considered unorthodox to the winemaking. Michel Rolland and Denis Dubourdieu are retained as consultant

oenologist Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

s. Raynaud was among the wine personalities satirised next to Robert Parker in the 2010 ''bande dessinée'' comic book, '' Robert Parker: Les Sept Pêchés capiteux''.Kakaviatos, Panos, ''Decanter.com'' (October 12, 2010)
Robert Parker 'honoured' by merciless cartoon satire
/ref>Thunevin, Jean-Luc, thunevin.blogspot.com (October 11, 2010)

/ref>

Sale

In September, 2008, Quinault was sold to

Bernard Arnault Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French businessman, investor, and art collector. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is one of the richest individuals in the ...

, head of luxury goods empire

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...

, and his associate Albert Frère, adding to their portfolio of Saint-Émilion properties Château Cheval Blanc and Château la Tour du Pin Figeac. At the time of the sale, Raynaud stated he did not have the means to continue improving the estate, citing the frost in 2002, the heat wave in 2003 and the hail in 2004 as problematic factors, but pledged to remain with Quinault as a consultant.

Production

The vineyard area extends , and is composed of 65%

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, 20%

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

, 10%

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

and 5%

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

, with a large portion of the vines planted between 1930 and 1948, and another between 1957 and 1961. Of the ''Grand vin'' there is typically a production of 3,000 to 5,000 cases.

References

External links

Château Quinault official site
(several languages) {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinault, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers