Chateau Carbonnieux

Vines have been growing at Château Carbonnieux since at least 1234, when a Ramon Carbonnieu, sub-prior of the Sainte-Croix Abbey in Bordeaux, is recorded as owning vineyards in Léognan. That makes this one of the oldest wine estates in the entire Bordeaux region, and unusually for Graves and Pessac-Léognan, it produces almost equal quantities of red and white wine.

History

The Benedictine monks of the Sainte-Croix Abbey in Bordeaux shaped much of the estate's early character. Back under their control in 1740 after a period of secular ownership, the monks modernised winemaking, blended varieties, and bottled wines for export. The story goes that they exported the white wine to the palace of the Ottoman Sultan in the 18th century under the label "Carbonnieux mineral water," using the wine's pale clarity as cover. Thomas Jefferson visited the estate in 1787 and planted an American pecan tree in the courtyard, since confirmed as the oldest pecan tree on European soil, though damaged by a storm in 2022.

After the French Revolution the estate passed to the Bouchereau family for 87 years, then changed hands several times, arriving in poor condition at the Perrin family in 1956. Marc Perrin began replanting immediately. His son Antony built a new vat room in 1990.

Today Eric, Christine, and Philibert Perrin run the estate, with Eric's sons Marc and Andréa joining in 2019 as the fifth generation.

The Vineyards, Terroir and Grapes

The estate covers 100 hectares of vines on the gravel plateau at Léognan, with clay and clay-limestone subsoil. The vineyard divides into 50 hectares of red varieties and 42 hectares of white, making Carbonnieux the largest white wine producer in the Pessac-Léognan appellation.

Reds are planted to 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 percent Merlot, 7 percent Cabernet Franc, and 3 percent Petit Verdot. Whites are 65 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 35 percent Sémillon.

The estate was classified as a Grand Cru Classé de Graves in 1953, for both red and white, one of only six châteaux with that double classification.

Winemaking

White wines are pressed and fermented in stainless steel to preserve freshness, then aged in oak barrels for around 10 months with 25 percent new oak.

Reds ferment in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, then age 15 to 18 months in French oak barrels with approximately 35 percent new oak.

Since 2011, a renovated cellar with tanks in multiple sizes allows plot-by-plot vinification. The estate uses sustainable viticulture with mechanical weed control and no herbicides or insecticides.