Château des Capucins

The château

Château des Capucins sits at the north entrance of the village of Lalande-de-Pomerol, on sand and clay-gravel over the crasse de fer, the iron-rich deposit of ferric oxide mixed with quartz, flint and granite that runs under this appellation and holds its water. Its 14 hectares of vines average 50 years and are planted 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, in rows 1.40 meters apart. The cellar covers 500 square meters, with tanks of about 70 hectoliters and room for 50 barrels.

The SCEA des Vignobles Carretero et Guionneau bought the property on September 18, 2023. Philippe Carretero, an engineer and enologist, oversees the winemaking, with Fabien Guionneau, a grower at Saint-Ciers-d’Abzac, and their sons Paul and Maxime. The whole vineyard is now farmed organically, without chemical inputs: 2024 is the first vintage certified in conversion, with certified parcels from 2025 and the whole vineyard from 2026. The land itself has an unusual set of owners. A Groupement Foncier Viticole, created the same month, has raised the money to buy it in 3 tranches, from 68, 82 and then 125 further shareholders.

I visited in April 2026 and tasted the 2024, that first vintage in conversion. It is a year Bordeaux will argue about for a long time, and estates like this one, with no prestige pricing to shelter behind and no reputation to perform to, are often where the most honest readings of a difficult year come from. The label is unlike almost anything else in Bordeaux: where most estates reach for crests, des Capucins shows a butterfly made entirely of small scenes of vineyard life, vines, barrels, leaves and people at work.

At a glance

Appellation

Lalande-de-Pomerol

Commune

Lalande-de-Pomerol, at the north entrance of the village

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Carretero and Guionneau families, since September 18, 2023

Direction

Philippe Carretero, engineer and enologist; Fabien Guionneau; their sons Paul and Maxime

Vineyard

14 hectares; vines 50 years old on average; rows 1.40 meters apart

Soil

Sand and clay-gravel over the crasse de fer Terroir of Lalande-de-Pomerol →

Grapes

Merlot 85%, Cabernet Franc 15%

Farming

Organic; 2024 the first vintage certified in conversion; the whole vineyard certified from 2026

Cellar

500 square meters; tanks of about 70 hectoliters; 50 barrels

The land

A Groupement Foncier Viticole of 275 shareholders, since September 2023