Château Saint-Pierre is a

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

in the Saint-Julien

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 ...

of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. The wine produced here was classified as one of ten ''Quatrièmes Crus Classés'' (Fourth Growths) in the historic

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...

. There is another Château Saint Pierre at

Toutens Toutens (Occitan: ''Totens'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in Southwestern France. History Toutens was originally a "seigneurie" or Lord of the Manor. In turn this lordship was originally a dependency of ...

in the Lauragais 30 km east of Toulouse, which dates from the 18th century and is one of the château of the froment.

History

Originally owned by the De Cheverry family, from at least 1693 according to archives and under the name Serançan, the estate was renamed near the end of the 18th century when it was bought by Baron de Saint-Pierre, whose family connections to the estate remained until just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. For a period beginning in 1832, the estate was split into two vineyards, Château Saint-Pierre-Bontemps and Château Saint-Pierre-Sevaistre, but became reunited under the Dutch company Van den Bussche's ownership, although some of the best sections of the vineyard was sold to Henri Martin who incorporated the land into his

Château Gloria Château Gloria is an unclassed Bordeaux wine from the Saint-Julien Appellation d'origine contrôlée, appellation. The winery is located in the central part of France’s Bordeaux wine region Haut-Médoc, in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevel ...

. In 1982 Martin bought the complete estate, and while selling some land to neighbouring Ducru-Beaucaillou and Gruaud-Larose, restored the château and brought improvements to the

vinification Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and w ...

. The current proprietors of the estate and residents of the château are Martin's daughter and son-in-law, Françoise and

Jean-Louis Triaud Jean-Louis Triaud (born 22 November 1949 in Bordeaux, France) is the ex president of FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He was first elected in 1996, and upon completion of the term, reelected in 2002. The son-in-law of the late Henri Martin, winemaker a ...

Production

The vineyard extends to , with a

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry (botany), berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non-Climacteric (botany), climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of ...

variety distribution of 75%

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 Leban ...

, 15%

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 t ...

and 10%

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 use ...

. After harvesting, the grapes are transported to the '' chai'' of Château Gloria where the wine is produced. The annual production of the ''grand vin'' is approximately 5,000 cases, and with no

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 ev ...

, the rejected and surplus fruit is sold off in bulk to local merchants.

References

* ;Footnotes

External links

Château Saint-Pierre official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Pierre, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers