Château Barrabaque

The château

Barrabaque is an 18th-century estate on the heights of Fronsac, and its slopes have long been noticed. Charles Cocks, whose Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins of 1850 began the guide later known as Cocks and Féret, lists it among the côtes of Fronsac as Barabat, under Crabit, at 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); from 1868 it sits among the second côtes of Canon-Fronsac, and in 1922 the guide moves it up to the first côtes, at 40 tonneaux, under Paul Crabit, whose family had held it since 1840 and who rebuilt it after phylloxera. Its vines spread over the south-facing heights of a ring of slopes that prolongs the butte de Canon. In 1936 Achille Noël, a wine merchant from Lille, bought it. Nicole Noël ran it until 2004, when Caroline Noël-Barroux, the 4th generation, took over after working in Saint-Émilion.

The 10 hectares face due south on slopes above the Dordogne, mostly clay and limestone, and straddle 2 appellations: Fronsac, and Canon-Fronsac on the highest slopes, on deep clay and limestone. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are planted. No chemical weedkillers or insecticides have been used for more than 20 years, grass grows between every row, and the slopes are picked by hand; the estate is certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms), level 3. The Prestige, a Fronsac of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines 30 to 35 years old, spends 18 months in barrel, 30% new, and the Tradition 15 months. Hugo and Divin are the Canon-Fronsacs, and Le Caprice de Caroline is a dry white of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

At a glance

Appellation

Fronsac; Canon-Fronsac

Commune

Fronsac

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Noël family, since 1936

Direction

Caroline Noël-Barroux, since 2004

Vineyard

10 hectares facing due south above the Dordogne

Soil

Clay and limestone Terroir of Fronsac →

Grapes

Prestige: Merlot 70%, Cabernet Franc 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3; no weedkillers or insecticides

Cellar

Prestige 18 months in barrel, 30% new; Tradition 15 months

Wines

Tradition and Prestige, Fronsac; Hugo and Divin, Canon-Fronsac; Le Caprice de Caroline

In history

Barabat, 25 tonneaux, in 1850; among the first côtes of Canon-Fronsac in 1922, 40 tonneaux