Château Bel-Air l’Espérance

The château

The Haut-Benauge is a corner of the Entre-deux-Mers with 2 appellations of its own, both created by decree on July 15, 1955, for 9 communes, Targon among them: Entre-deux-Mers Haut-Benauge for dry whites and Bordeaux Haut-Benauge for sweet ones. The Percier family created Château Bel-Air l’Espérance at Targon in 1989 from 5 inherited hectares, and Vincent, Marcel and Marie-Claire Percier run it today, with vines at Targon, Saint-Léon, Faleyras and Ladaux, on clay and limestone hillsides around a limestone plateau.

The dry white is an Entre-deux-Mers Haut-Benauge; the Bordeaux Haut-Benauge Moelleux is 100% Sémillon. The family also makes red Bordeaux, the 2018 a blend of 80% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Carmenère, along with a clairet, a rosé and a Crémant de Bordeaux, and a second label, Château Jean-Blanc Perrine. The estate has been certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) since 2018, and its soils are worked or mown rather than weeded with chemicals.

At a glance

Appellations

Entre-deux-Mers Haut-Benauge, dry white; Bordeaux Haut-Benauge, sweet; also Bordeaux and Crémant de Bordeaux

Commune

Targon

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Percier family, since 1989

Direction

Vincent, Marcel and Marie-Claire Percier

Vineyard

Vines at Targon, Saint-Léon, Faleyras and Ladaux

Soil

Clay and limestone hillsides around a limestone plateau Terroir of Haut-Benauge →

Grapes

Bordeaux Haut-Benauge: Sémillon 100%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, since 2018; no weedkillers

Wines

Château Bel-Air l’Espérance, Entre-deux-Mers Haut-Benauge and Bordeaux Haut-Benauge Moelleux; red Bordeaux; clairet, rosé, Crémant de Bordeaux; Château Jean-Blanc Perrine