Château Charmail

The estate

The known history of Charmail goes back to 1520. In 1612 the Trevey family inherited Bardis, and the oldest buildings on the property belonged to that former seigneury. A price list of 1745, reprinted by William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, names Charmail among the premiers crus of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, at 300 to 500 livres the tonneau (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), with Bardis, Ademar and Labat. In 1845 Franck counted it under Mme Louvet de Paty among the first bourgeois growths of the commune, at 100 to 110 tonneaux. It stayed with the Louvet de Paty family, latterly through Mme Caillat, née Louvet de Paty, until Édouard Féret’s supplement of 1901 names Commandant Peragallo, a colonel by 1922, when Charmail made 70 tonneaux. The Fabiani and Laly families came later.

The modern estate was rebuilt piece by piece. In 1982 a young agronomist, Olivier Sèze, took over about 10 hectares, and in 2008 the estate passed to Bernard d’Halluin, who bought back 6 hectares of the original vineyard. In 2021 the Goudet-Liquard family, led by Valérie Liquard with her younger brother Vivien, went into partnership with him and set about bringing the vineyard back to its historical footprint.

Charmail now has 55 hectares in 1 piece, planted with 4 varieties, Petit Verdot among them. The conversion to organic farming began in 2012, with sheep, bees, draft horses and chickens among the vines. Sébastien Pineau arrived in 2007 and has been head winemaker since 2012. The fermentations have been spontaneous since 2017, and the wine spends about 12 months in 500-liter French oak barrels and 17-hectoliter concrete eggs; since 2022 every bottle has carried a wax seal. Charmail was a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in the classification of 2020 and is not in that of 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2020; not in the list of 2025

Owners

Bernard d’Halluin, since 2008, in partnership with the Goudet-Liquard family since 2021

Oenologist

Sébastien Pineau, head winemaker since 2012

Vineyard

55 hectares in 1 piece; 4 varieties

Farming

Organic conversion begun in 2012

Cellar

Spontaneous fermentations since 2017; about 12 months in 500-liter barrels and concrete eggs

In history

Among the premiers crus of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne in 1745; 70 tonneaux in 1922

Sources: Château Charmail, our story · Château Charmail, the estate · Château Charmail, the wines · Château Charmail, in the vineyard · Château Charmail, in the cellar · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020