Château de Chantegrive

The château

Chantegrive began with a stamp collection. Henri and Françoise Lévêque sold theirs in 1966 to buy their first 2 hectares at Podensac, and built the estate from there. It joined the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux in 1985, built a barrel cellar for the reds in 1987 and a second, for its white Cuvée Caroline, in 1998, and has worked with Hubert de Boüard as consultant since 2006. After Henri’s death the family gave his name to a red, Cuvée Henri Lévêque, first made in 2009. The 5 children took over in 2016, and Marie-Hélène Lévêque is managing director.

The soil is gravel, pebbles and coarse sand mixed with silt, over a layer of clay and limestone; 7 varieties are planted, and the estate is certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms). The grapes are vinified variety by variety and parcel by parcel in 58 stainless steel vats of 172 and 204 hectoliters. Château de Chantegrive comes in red and white; Cuvée Caroline is the barrel-aged white; Cuvée Henri Lévêque is a red from a parcel of old vines, aged 18 to 20 months in new French oak. There is also a sweet Cérons, 100% Sémillon aged 24 months in new oak, 3,500 bottles of it, and since 2020 a range called Les Oiseaux de Chantegrive.

At a glance

Appellation

Graves, red and white; Cérons, sweet

Commune

Podensac

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Lévêque family, since 1966

Direction

Marie-Hélène Lévêque, managing director

Consultant

Hubert de Boüard, since 2006

Soil

Gravel, pebbles and coarse sand with silt over clay and limestone Terroir of Graves →

Grapes

7 varieties

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale

Cellar

58 stainless steel vats of 172 and 204 hectoliters; barrel cellars of 1987 and 1998

Wines

Château de Chantegrive, red and white; Cuvée Caroline; Cuvée Henri Lévêque; a Cérons; Les Oiseaux de Chantegrive