Adress: 33420 Naujan & Postiac, France
Country: France
internet: http://despagne.fr
Wine district: Bordeaux
wines
In the 17th Century before Rauzan Despagne earned fame as a Bordeaux wine vineyard, the chateau was used as a hunting lodge. Another owner who was a well known Bordeaux wine trader converted it into a summer residence. Today, that is clearly not the case. Located not far from the Bordeaux city center, Rauzan Despagne produces white and red Bordeaux wine.
Rauzan Despagne owns 64 hectares of vines not far from Right Bank of Bordeaux. Most of the vines are located in Entre Deux Mers, close to the Dordogne river. Much of their terroir is sand, clay and some limestone soils. The majority of their vineyards, 51 hectares are planted for the production of white, Bordeaux wine. 13 hectares are reserved for the production of red wine grape varieties. For the white wine grape varieties, the vineyards are planted to 34% Semillon, 33% Sauvignon Blanc and 33% Muscadelle for the wines classified as Entre Deux Mers. For the generic AOC Bordeaux wine, the vines are planted to 100% Sauvignon Blanc. With the red wine grapes, the vineyard is planted to 8-% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc.
For the production of the red wine, the vineyards of Chateau Rauzan Despagne are planted with mostly Merlot on on a terroir of clay and sand based soils. On average the vines are planted to a density of 6,000 vines per hectare. The white wine of Rauzan Despagne comes from the Entre Deux Mers appellation. For the white wine, the vineyards are planted with Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle.
The Despagane family also produces a small of amount of wine made from 100% old vine Merlot called Girolate, which comes from their best parcels of old vines situated on their clay and limestone terroir in the Entre Deux Mers appellation. Girolate is produced from fruit that comes from vines planted to a much higher density than you find with the vines used to produce Chateau Rauzan Despagne. Girolate made its debut in 2001. Girolate is fermented in small oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in new, French oak barrels. About 150 cases are produced of this special cuvee’. Girolate is the most expensive wine in its class.
There is also a white wine version of Girolate made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Not much Girolate is made, making it hard to find. In addition, the owners of Chateau Rauzan Despagne also produce a few other Bordeaux value wines: Tour de Mirambeau, Bel Air Perponcher, Lion Beailieu and Mont Perat in both red and white wine.
All told, Rauzan Despagne produces over 40,000 cases of wine per year.
