Small family property of 19 hectares located in the village of Cissac Médoc, Château Larrivaux is not a property like the others in Haut Médoc. Here the term "family property" takes on its full meaning because Château Larrivaux has belonged to the same family since its creation in 1580.
The story
In 1581, the ancestors of the current owners embarked on a crazy project: to create from scratch, on virgin land, one of the most beautiful properties in the region. The project is gigantic, it includes a magnificent park, outbuildings including 10 staff accommodation, stables, two huge outbuildings closed by a magnificent gate and at the bottom of the park, a castle worthy of fairy tales. Work begins but funds run out because the husband of the owner is an inveterate gambler. In the end, only the two outbuildings framing the entrance remain, as well as the stables and staff quarters. The place is vast and extends over hundreds of hectares. One of the outbuildings became the family home, as it still is today. The other body of the building will become a hayloft and then a barrel cellar in 1821. Since 1580 this estate has been exclusively managed and owned by women from the same family and the 21st century is no exception to the rule: Madame Huguette CARLSBERG took over the reins of the estate on the death of her mother Viscountess Sabine de CARHEIL. Today it is they, Armelle CARLSBERG, Sabine CARLSBERG and Bérangère TESSERON, her daughters and her granddaughter, who continue the magical story of LARRIVAUX. Bérangère, daughter of Sabine and niece of Armelle runs the estate. Today there are 25 hectares of vines, fields, quarries, a beautiful forest, all of which represents another 75 hectares. The fauna and flora feel very good there for their greatest pleasure.
The terroir
LARRIVAUX is located in the commune of Cissac Médoc, in the HAUT MEDOC appellation, at the gateway to the prestigious Saint Estèphe appellation. The 25-hectare vineyard is made up of 3 islets that surround the property. Two are on gravelly soils with deep clay and the third is on clay-limestone soil. The characteristics of this terroir make it possible to conserve water in the rainy period and to restore it to the roots in the dry period, which greatly limits the phenomenon of water stress (ie the lack of water for the plant). The current grape variety of the property is: 59% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is mostly planted with Merlot, which is rather atypical for the Médoc region, but it is the terroir that wanted this grape variety. Merlot, suppleness and roundness, Cabernet Sauvignon, structure and fruitiness, Cabernet Franc, elegance and Petit Verdot, tannins and color. The wines come from the assembly of these different grape varieties because each one contributes to the composition of the perfect balance. The percentage of each grape variety varies according to the vintages, depending on the climate which may be more favorable to one than to the other.
The environment
For years the estate has been sensitive to the protection of its ecosystem. For this they have implemented several actions for years: For 60 years they have kept the trees and hedges on the property to have an environment in symbiosis with the biotope. This is why they have set up hives and twice a year samples and monitoring are carried out on bats present in a quarry on the property. They opted for inter-row grassing and working the soil under the rows. Regarding the products, they no longer use insecticides or anti-rot and they reduce their inputs as much as possible by using biocontrol products. Always to reduce their environmental footprint, they have reduced the weight of their bottles by 50g.
Wines
Aware of the quality of their terroir, they look for optimal ripeness at each harvest. To date and depending on the vintages, all the parcels of the Château have come to enrich the first wine. Château LE BORDERON – L'X DE LARRIVAUX: Two identities for the same requirement. A balanced and structured wine, pleasant from the outset, which benefits throughout the year from the same care as at Château LARRIVAUX. The name BORDERON corresponds to a locality and a group of buildings at the end of the alley leading to the vat room. The X of LARRIVAUX quite simply corresponds to the contraction of the first and the last letters of the name of LARRIVAUX. The estate does not seek to produce wines on extracts, very woody, but on the contrary balanced, round, fine, fruity and gourmet wines, aging slowly over the years. Each operation is reasoned, from the plot selection to the barreling of the wine into French oak barrels. The extraction of polyphenols is done gently at low temperature. Vertical pressing, fining with egg whites... ancient but irreplaceable techniques!
93 /100
- Haut-Médoc
- 025 hectares
- fGraves - Deep clays - Limestone
- 110,000 bottles per year
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