Château de Ferrand

The château

Château de Ferrand was built at the end of the 17th century by a Bordeaux squire, and it stayed in the family of the Marquis de Mons for about 3 centuries. It was a big vineyard even then: Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, put Ferrand on a wide plateau under Madame Fornerod de Mons in 1868, at 120 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) in a good year, and called it the largest vineyard in the district of Saint-Émilion after Laroque. The de Mons family holds it in every edition of the century.

Baron Bich, the industrialist behind the pens and the lighters, bought the estate in 1978 and died in 1994; his heirs own it, and Pauline Bich Chandon-Moët is president, with her husband Philippe Chandon-Moët. From 2005 the vineyard was restructured and replanted and the cellars brought up to date, and a restoration of 2 years, finished in 2019, opened the property to visitors. De Ferrand was in no Saint-Émilion classification before 2012, when it was promoted to Grand Cru Classé, and the list approved in September 2022 confirmed it.

The property covers 42 hectares on the clay and limestone plateau at Saint-Hippolyte, 32 of them under vine and 10 of woodland and meadow around the vines. The planting is 70% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Hippolyte

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 2012 and 2022

Owners

The heirs of Baron Bich, who bought the estate in 1978

Direction

Pauline Bich Chandon-Moët, president, with Philippe Chandon-Moët

Vineyard

42 hectares, 32 of them under vine and 10 of woodland and meadow

Soil

Clay and limestone plateau Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 70%, Cabernet Franc 29%, Cabernet Sauvignon 1%

The work

Vineyard restructured and replanted and cellars brought up to date from 2005; a restoration of 2 years finished in 2019

Wines

Château de Ferrand

Before 1978

The family of the Marquis de Mons, for about 3 centuries

In history

Madame Fornerod de Mons at 120 tonneaux in 1868, the largest vineyard of the district after Laroque