Château Barreyres

The château

Barreyres stands between the village of Arcins and the Gironde estuary, and its story begins with Timothée du Périer de Larsan, son of Jean-Baptiste du Périer de Larsan. The family kept it for generations. Charles Cocks, the Englishman whose Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins became, with Édouard Féret, the guide of the Bordeaux trade, lists Bareyre at Arcins under Duperrier de Larsan in 1850, at 35 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, gives the cru de Barreyres to the same name in 1853, at 40 to 50; and in 1922 Cocks and Féret still have Château Barreyres under the baron du Périer de Larsan, at 50. The house is of the 19th century, and 2 sphinxes have watched over it since 1833; the second wine, La Griffe de Barreyres, takes its name from them. Pierre Castel bought the château in 1971 and set about building up its vineyard, and it now belongs to Castel Châteaux & Grands Crus.

From the rise of Arcins the vines spread around the château, Cabernet Sauvignon on fine Pyrenean gravel, 55% of the vineyard, and Merlot on the clay, 45%. They are planted at 9,600 vines a hectare, 30 years old on average, and certified Terra Vitis since the 2018 vintage. The crop is picked by machine and made in stainless steel vats and then 14 wooden vats; the wine ages 14 months in French oak renewed by thirds, among 1,600 barrels from 5 coopers, in a cellar lit by the stained glass of the glassmaker Raymond Mirande. Barreyres makes about 690,000 bottles and was a Cru Bourgeois in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Arcins

Classification

Cru Bourgeois, 2020 and 2025

Owner

Castel Châteaux & Grands Crus; bought by Pierre Castel in 1971

Vineyard

9,600 vines a hectare; vines 30 years old on average

Soil

Fine Pyrenean gravel; clay Terroir of Haut-Médoc →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 45%

Farming

Terra Vitis, since the 2018 vintage

Cellar

Picked by machine; stainless steel vats and 14 wooden vats; 14 months in French oak, renewed by thirds; 1,600 barrels from 5 coopers

Production

About 690,000 bottles

Wines

Château Barreyres; La Griffe de Barreyres

In history

The du Périer de Larsan family, from 1850 to at least 1922