Bordeaux
St Saturnin
Adrien Tramier was born in Algeria and arrived in Marseille in 1964, studying in Montpellier at the same time. But in the back of his mind, Adrien Tramier would not be against acquiring a wine property just for him. One fine day he received a letter from a friend, in the Médoc peninsula. By complete coincidence, he arrived in Bégadan in the heart of Médoc, to the very north of the left bank. Starting from almost nothing, today he owns almost 35 hectares. In 1968, Adrien made his debut and, as a passionate self-taught man, developed his tiny 3-hectare estate in the company of the former owner. At his own pace, he advances, fumbles and then evolves. Already at this time he decided not to age his wine in oak barrels. It is important to note that in the 1960s, many pieds noirs flocked to the region to lend a helping hand. They were able to modernize agriculture and were a real breath of fresh air. In 1975 he offered his very first vintage, this time alone. Already, with his very particular method, his great meticulousness in the vines and the cellar, he is seen as an extra-terrestrial.
The harvest takes place very late at Château Saint Saturnin. In fact, the grape ripening cycle in this part of the left bank is slower to complete. Inevitably, they must be pushed to their optimum. Adrien will never allow himself to harvest grapes other than bursting with maturity. And at his place, the harvest takes place at the end of October! Its property is made up of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.
Château Meyre
Located in the heart of Haut-Médoc, between the terroirs of Moulis and Margaux, Château Meyre has been working the vines for more than 3 centuries. At the end of the 19th century, the estate was one of the jewels of Avensan and the Féret guide mentioned its existence. Later, in 1932, during its first official publication, the 1932 classification gave it the status of Cru Bourgeois. This ranking will be confirmed in 2003.
Today, the property covers 17 and a half hectares of beautiful gravelly terroirs, with 2 hectares in the commune of Soussans, in the Margaux appellation, for a confidential vintage, the Gallen de Château Meyre. Since 2011, the property has been officially converted to organic farming.
Bichon-Cassignols
It is in the Graves region, at the gates of Bordeaux, that vines have been established in Gironde since ancient times. The Château Bichon Cassignols vineyard is located twenty kilometers from BORDEAUX, towards the south-east, on a plateau of deep gravel, in the village of La Brède, contiguous to the “Pessac-Léognan” appellation to the north of the appellation of Graves of which it is part. It was in 1919 that the first wines were produced by Jean-François' grandparents in the building dating from the end of the 18th century. Her parents took over until 1981, and since then, Marie and Jean-François have also run this small business as a couple, each generation having modernized these buildings, according to the needs of their time. The last modification made in 2012 was the creation of a more comfortable reception area.
The vineyard currently includes 12.50 hectares planted with vines. Marie and Jean-François and their employee Edith Tagliaferri work to develop this Graves terroir. It is a mixture of pebbles, sand and clay deposited by the Garonne during glacial episodes, with the presence of a ferruginous layer called alios, characteristic of the Gironde left bank of the Garonne. In Organic Agriculture, the soil is the centerpiece which conditions the entire life of the plant.
The harvest takes place very late at Château Saint Saturnin. In fact, the grape ripening cycle in this part of the left bank is slower to complete. Inevitably, they must be pushed to their optimum. Adrien will never allow himself to harvest grapes other than bursting with maturity. And at his place, the harvest takes place at the end of October! Its property is made up of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.
Les Vignobles Ponty
The Canon Fronsac appellation is located on the right bank of Bordeaux, 10 minutes from Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, our closest neighbors. We like to give our vines time, and believe that even if old vines produce less, the gain in quality is worth it. The average age of our vines is 45 years, and some plots of Château du Pavillon and Château Grand Renouil are 60 to 85 years old. The Ponty Vineyards cover 13 hectares in the Canon Fronsac and Bordeaux appellations.
The history of Vignobles Ponty begins in 1905 with Victor Ponty, Hélène's great-grandfather. Victor came from a large family of Corrèze farmers but dreamed of a different life around his passion: wine. The idea that the wine he could produce would be an opportunity for moments of sharing with family, friends, or lovers would have been enough to make him happy. One day, lost around the small village of Fronsac on the right bank of Bordeaux, a chance meeting with a (very pretty) teacher made him discover a place where the winegrowers had above all their craftsmanship, their traditions, and the moments sharing their wines. She explained to him how local winemakers drew their expertise from very ancient traditions, showed him that their rituals were simple and authentic and that their almost innate sense of the vine came from years spent observing their ancestors. Victor decided on the one hand to marry this pretty teacher, and on the other hand to devote his life to learning and preserving this way of living, to pass it on to his son and grandsons. Today, his way of thinking still guides our work in the vineyard and in the cellar. Since 2019, Hélène Ponty has been the fifth generation of the Ponty family at the head of the Vignobles, after Victor, Jean, François, and Michel.
Fleur Haut Gaussens
Our story begins in 1941 when Daniel and Catherine Lhuillier, the paternal grandparents of Hervé Lhuillier (son and daughter of winegrowers for several generations) settled in a place called Les Gaussens. In 1976, Nicole and Pierre Lhuillier, the parents, building on their family heritage, created their own estate with 8 hectares also in Gaussens. The production is then sold in bulk. In 1990, Hervé Lhuillier's son joined the property after his studies, with a head full of innovative ideas and a real desire to create a strong brand. He begins production of the first bottles. Our 40ha vineyard benefits from clay-limestone soil. Spread around the town of Vérac, near Fronsac, our 27 plots are planted according to the terroirs and benefit from maximum sunshine. It consists of Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
