Château Bellegrave

The château

Bellegrave stands at Valeyrac, 12 kilometers from Lesparre-Médoc, on the gravel slopes that follow the Gironde, and the Chauvin family has kept it for 4 generations. The name enters the trade books in 1922, when Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list a Château Bellegrave at Valeyrac under Souet et Juillac among the crus bourgeois (a Médoc classification) et 1ers artisans. It was already a Cru Bourgeois in 1932, and it is one in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

The 11 hectares are planted to the grapes of the Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot, at 7,000 vines a hectare, with vines 35 years old on average, and the estate is certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms). The family picks by hand, by choice. The winemaking is traditional, 3 weeks to 1 month in concrete vats, the wine spends 12 months in barrels and it is bottled at the estate, about 70,000 bottles.

At a glance

Appellation

Médoc

Commune

Valeyrac

Classification

Cru Bourgeois, 2020 and 2025

Owners

The Chauvin family, for 4 generations

Vineyard

11 hectares; 7,000 vines a hectare; vines 35 years old on average

Soil

Gravel slopes along the estuary Terroir of Médoc →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale

Cellar

Picked by hand; 3 weeks to 1 month in concrete vats; 12 months in barrels; bottled at the estate

Production

About 70,000 bottles

Wines

Château Bellegrave

Not to be confused with

Château Bellegrave, Pauillac