Château Cassagne Haut-Canon

The château

Cassagne takes its name from the Gaulish word for oak, and the house was a hunting lodge of Louis-François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, Marshal of France. The wine was on the books early. Charles Cocks, in the first French edition of his guide, Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins, in 1850, listed 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) at Cassagne, under Limousin, among the côtes of Fronsac; from 1868 he and Édouard Féret printed Château Cassagne among the côtes called Canon-Fronsac at Saint-Michel, under Carvès, at 20 to 25 tonneaux, naming Raymond Carvès in full from 1874. General Thorel owned it by 1897, and Bourricaud from 1901. Charles Dubois bought it in 1956 with 3 hectares of vines; his son Jean-Jacques joined him in 1983 after studying enology and has run it since, with his wife Zita and their sons.

The vineyard lies in one block high on the Fronsac hills, on a mosaic of Fronsac molasse and a limestone plateau where truffle oaks grow, planted at 6,000 vines a hectare. The soil is plowed rather than treated with weedkillers, and about 12 species of wild orchid grow among the rows. The Tradition, 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, spends 18 of its 24 months in barrels 1 and 2 years old, with 5% new. La Truffière, 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, has 18 months in barrel, 25% new. There is also L’Orchidée Sauvage, and a rosé, Rose Lune, sold as Vin de France.

At a glance

Appellation

Canon-Fronsac

Commune

Saint-Michel-de-Fronsac

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Dubois family, since 1956

Direction

Jean-Jacques Dubois, since 1983, with his wife Zita and their sons

Vineyard

In one block; 6,000 vines a hectare

Soil

Fronsac molasse and a limestone plateau with truffle oaks Terroir of Canon-Fronsac →

Grapes

Tradition: Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 10%. La Truffière: Merlot 60%, Cabernet Franc 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%

Farming

Plowed, no weedkillers; about 12 species of wild orchid

Cellar

Tradition 18 months in barrel, 5% new; La Truffière 18 months, 25% new

Wines

Tradition; La Truffière; L’Orchidée Sauvage; Rose Lune, Vin de France

In history

12 tonneaux under Limousin in 1850; Château Cassagne, côtes Canon-Fronsac, under Carvès from 1868