Château

Château Durand-Bayle

shah-TOH dew-RAHN BELL
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ew” is “ee” said with rounded lips. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.

A Graves de Vayres of 10 hectares on a gravel plateau above the little river Bréa, looking east toward Pomerol, owned since 1989 by a Champagne family.

Appellation
Graves de Vayres
On Instagram
@vignobles_gonet

The château

The Gonet family have grown Champagne since 1802. They have owned Château Lesparre since 1986, and in 1989 they bought Château Durand-Bayle from the Furth family of the Dordogne. The 10 hectares lie in the east of the appellation, above the Bréa and facing east toward Pomerol, gravel on the plateau and more clay down the slope, and since the purchase parts of the vineyard have been replanted and drained.

The red, 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, is picked by hand, sorted and kept as whole berries where possible, macerated 3 weeks, put through its malolactic in barrel and aged 6 to 12 months on the lees, depending on the vintage.

At a glance

Appellation
Graves de Vayres
Classification
No classification
Owners
The Gonet family, since 1989
Vineyard
10 hectares, partly replanted and drained since 1989
Soil
Gravel on the plateau, clay down the slope Terroir of Graves de Vayres →
Grapes
Merlot 80%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%
Cellar
Picked by hand; 3 weeks of maceration; malolactic in barrel; 6 to 12 months on the lees
Wines
Château Durand-Bayle
The house
Vignobles Michel Gonet: also Château Lesparre, Graves de Vayres, and Château d’Eck, Pessac-Léognan

Sources

Institutions
Graves de Vayres, Château Durand-Bayle (in French)
Companies
Vignobles Michel Gonet: Château Durand-Bayle (in French), Bordeaux (in French), the history of a family

Revised September 23, 2026. How I choose sources

The record

Château Durand-Bayle is in the Graves de Vayres appellation.

Private

By invitation only.

On from here

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