Château Faizeau

The estate

Faizeau means little Faize, after the Benedictine abbey of Faize nearby, and the château, on the slopes of the tertre de Calon, is already on Belleyme’s map of Guyenne in the 18th century. In the early 20th century it was a modest holding: Édouard Féret, co-author of Bordeaux et ses vins, the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, lists A Faizeau under Besson among the crus artisans et paysans of Montagne in his St. Émilion et ses vins of 1908, at 15 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and the same figure appears in 1922. The Helfrich family has owned it since 2011 through Crus et Domaines de France, the Bordeaux arm of Les Grands Chais de France; Sébastien Villenave manages it, and Jérôme Paris is cellar and vineyard master.

The vineyard, 12 hectares in a single block with 11 of them farmed, sits on a plateau facing east and west, with long hours of sun, on clay and limestone with patches of wind-blown sand. It has held Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) since 2019. The grapes are picked by hand and selected plot by plot, the wine is made in the traditional way, and it ages 12 to 18 months in French oak barrels.

At a glance

Appellation

Montagne-Saint-Émilion

Commune

Montagne

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Helfrich family, Crus et Domaines de France, since 2011

Direction

Sébastien Villenave; Jérôme Paris, cellar and vineyard

Vineyard

12 hectares in a single block, 11 farmed

Ground

Clay and limestone with wind-blown sand

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, since 2019

Cellar

Picked by hand; 12 to 18 months in French oak barrels

Wines

Château Faizeau

In history

A Faizeau under Besson, 15 tonneaux, in 1908 and 1922

Sources: Crus et Domaines de France, Château Faizeau · Crus et Domaines de France, home · Syndicat viticole de Montagne-Saint-Émilion, Château Faizeau