Château

Château Côte Montpezat

shah-TOH koht mohn-puh-ZAH
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ohn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The recording is the reference.

A Castillon on the clay and limestone côte at Belvès-de-Castillon, built up by Dominique Bessineau from 1989 and part of Maison Claret since 2023, with a well of pilgrim legend at its heart.

The château

Dominique Bessineau, from Calais, bought Château Côte Montpezat in 1989 and added Château Haut-Bernat, in Puisseguin, in 1991; Delphine Toullec joined him in 1995. Maison Claret began at Haut-Bernat: Sean and Suzanne Legault, a Maltese and Canadian couple, founded it in September 2019 when they bought its 7 hectares, and in 2023 the Legault family brought in 2 more properties, Côte Montpezat and Château Puycarpin. At the heart of the vineyard stands a 17th-century house over an old well that, by legend, watered the pilgrims on the way of Saint James to Compostela from the 10th to the 15th century. The Cuvée Compostelle is named for that story.

The estate lies 40 kilometers from Bordeaux, on the clay and limestone côte that carries the vineyards of Saint-Émilion onto the lands of Castillon-la-Bataille. The vines are mainly Merlot, about 40 years old; the grapes are selected plot by plot and fermented in temperature-controlled vats; the wine ages in barrel and then in bottle. Sean Legault is owner and president, Jean-François Lalle technical director and Laurent Mothes cellar master, with Jean-Louis Vinolo as consulting enologist. Maison Claret is certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms), Terra Vitis and Bee Friendly.

At a glance

Appellation
Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
Commune
Belvès-de-Castillon
Classification
No classification
Owners
Maison Claret, the Legault family, since 2023
Direction
Sean Legault, president; Jean-François Lalle, technical director; Laurent Mothes, cellar master
Enologist
Jean-Louis Vinolo, consultant
Grapes
Mainly Merlot, about 40 years old
Farming
Haute Valeur Environnementale; Terra Vitis; Bee Friendly
Cellar
Plot selection; temperature-controlled vats; aging in barrel and in bottle
Wines
Château Côte Montpezat; Cuvée Compostelle
The house
Maison Claret: also Château Haut-Bernat, Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion, and Château Puycarpin, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

Sources

Institutions
Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Château Côte Montpezat
Its own publications
Maison Claret: Château Côte Montpezat, the house, the châteaux; Bessineau Vineyards, Château Côte Montpezat

Revised October 10, 2026. How I choose sources

The record

Château Côte Montpezat is in the Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux appellation.

Private

By invitation only.

On from here

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