Château d’Arche

The estate

The property dates from 1580. It was the Cru de Braneyre before the Comte d’Arche acquired it in 1733 and gave it his name. For a time it was held together with Lafaurie-Peyraguey and sold as Château d’Arche-Lafaurie-Peyraguey, and in 1846 the English writer Charles Cocks, in Bordeaux: Its Wines and the Claret Country, placed it under Lafaurie in the 3rd class at 20 to 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). The name soon spread wider than the estate. In 1868 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed 4 holdings called d’Arche side by side in Sauternes: Camille Lafaurie’s at 15 to 20 tonneaux, Méric’s at 8 to 10, d’Arche-Vimeney under Comet at 8 to 10 and Dupeyron’s at 5 to 6.

Pierre Perromat farmed it in the 1980s and 1990s; it then passed to a group of investors, and Jérôme Cosson directs it. D’Arche moved early into wine tourism: the hotel opened on the estate in 2002 and has grown since, and a new cellar of 2,300 square meters went up in 2019.

About 30 hectares are under vine, at 6,600 vines a hectare, the vines 45 years old on average: 90% Sémillon, 9% Sauvignon Blanc, 1% Muscadelle. The wine spends 12 to 18 months in French oak, about 30% of it new, while a cuvée from a parcel of 2 hectares of 60 year old vines gets 24 months in new oak. There is also a dry white and a red, A Château d’Arche, sold as Graves, and, unusually among the classified growths, the bottles are closed with a synthetic cork.

At a glance

Appellation

Sauternes

Commune

Sauternes

Classification

Deuxième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

A group of investors

Direction

Jérôme Cosson

Vineyard

About 30 hectares under vine; 6,600 vines a hectare; vines 45 years old on average

Grapes

Sémillon 90%, Sauvignon Blanc 9%, Muscadelle 1%

Cellar

12 to 18 months in French oak, about 30% new; 24 months in new oak for the cuvée of 60 year old vines; a new cellar of 2,300 square meters in 2019

Wines

Château d’Arche; a cuvée from 60 year old vines; a dry white; A Château d’Arche, red, sold as Graves

On the estate

A hotel since 2002

In history

4 holdings named d’Arche in 1868, the largest at 15 to 20 tonneaux

Sources: Château d’Arche, the estate · Château d’Arche, the wines · INAO, cahier des charges Sauternes · Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, the classified growths