Château Trotte Vieille, alternately Château Trottevieille, is a Bordeaux wine producer from the

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. In 2016, it had a population of 1,938. In the heart of the country of ''Libournais'' (the area around Libourne), in ...

, ranked ''Premier grand cru classé B'' in the

Classification of Saint-Émilion wine In 1955, the wines of Saint-Émilion in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux were classified. Unlike the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 covering wines from the Médoc and Graves regions, the Saint-Émilion list is updated every 10 y ...

. The estate is located in the Right Bank of France’s

Bordeaux wine region The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the ...

in the commune of Saint-Émilion, in the department

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

. The estate also produces the

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 ...

Dame de Trotte Vieille (since 2002).

History

Situated below

Château Troplong Mondot Château Troplong Mondot is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Saint-Émilion, ranked ''Premier grand cru classé B'' in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located in the Right Bank of France’s Bordeaux wine region in the ...

, the name of the estate is suggested to derive from ''la trotte vieille'' (English: ''old trotting lady''), invoking a story of an elderly woman who once regularly trotted by nearby roads. More likely is however the relation to the Swiss word for wine press "Trotte". In 1949, Trottevieille was acquired by Marcel Borie, head of the firm

Borie-Manoux Borie-Manoux is a Bordeaux wine ''négociant'' house, and winery and wine merchant group, initially founded as Negociant Borie by Pierre Borie in Pauillac in 1870. The firm was situated in Pauillac until the late 1940s when it was moved to Bordeau ...

, who left the estate to his son-in-law Emile Castéja. To date the estate is owned by Borie-Manoux, also owners of

Château Batailley Château Batailley is a winery in the Pauillac Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, appellation of the Bordeaux wine regions, Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced at the estate was classified as one of eighteen ''Cinquièmes Crus'' (Fifth ...

and

Château Lynch-Moussas Château Lynch-Moussas is a French winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Lynch-Moussas is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The wine produced here was classified as one of eighteen ' ...

, making it the only ''Saint-Émilion grand cru'' owned by a Bordeaux négociant. It is currently managed by Philippe Castéja, with

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 Gilles Pauquet and Denis Dubourdieu as consultants.

Production

The vineyard area extends with a grape variety distribution of 50%

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 ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

, 45%

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 style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

and 5%

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 Lebanon' ...

. Of the ''Grand vin'', Château Trotte Vieille, and the second wine, La Vieille Dame de Trotte Vieille, there is a total annual production of 3,000 cases.

References

Château Trotte Vieille technical data
;Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Trottevieille, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers