Château Bauduc

The château

Gavin and Angela Quinney moved from London to Château Bauduc in 1999, and they sell directly to customers in the UK, from a bonded warehouse near London, as well as at the château and through merchants in Northern Ireland, Ireland and Switzerland. Its white, rosé and red are house wines for Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein. A farmhouse on the estate is let by the week from April to October.

The estate covers some 200 acres of woods, fields and vines on the edge of Créon, about 15 miles southeast of Bordeaux, where the Entre-deux-Mers, Bordeaux Supérieur and Côtes de Bordeaux appellations meet. Its 120,000 vines cover 65 acres, a little over 25 hectares. More than half are white, mostly Sauvignon Blanc with some Sémillon; the reds are over two thirds Merlot, with a few hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and a few vines of Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carménère. Ten hectares are older vines, the oldest from 1947, and about 40 acres have been planted or replanted since 2000. The soil runs from sandy clay to gravel, especially on the plateau at the top, to clay over an outcrop of limestone on part of the slopes facing south and west, and gravelly clay on the east.

The grapes are picked partly by machine and partly by hand; the whites for the Crémant and the reds for Les Trois Hectares are picked by hand. The reds age in French oak for about 12 months when the wine merits it. In good years, such as 2018 and 2019, the estate makes around 200,000 bottles.

At a glance

Appellation

Bordeaux Supérieur; Crémant de Bordeaux

Commune

On the edge of Créon

Classification

No classification

Owners

Gavin and Angela Quinney, since 1999

Vineyard

A little over 25 hectares, 120,000 vines; oldest vines from 1947

Soil

Sandy clay, gravel on the plateau, clay over limestone, gravelly clay Terroir of Bordeaux Supérieur →

Grapes

White: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon. Red: mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a few Malbec, Petit Verdot, Carménère

Cellar

Reds about 12 months in French oak

Production

Around 200,000 bottles in good years

Wines

Sauvignon Blanc; Les Trois Hectares white and red; Crémant de Bordeaux Blanc de Blancs; rosé; Bordeaux Supérieur; B de Bauduc

The house

Sold directly to customers in the UK