Château Falfas

The estate

In the 14th and 15th centuries Falfas belonged to the seigneurs de Lansac, and its wines went to the court of the Edwards of England. In 1612 the sires de Riveaux built the château and its cellar in the Louis XIII style, and late in that century Gaillard de Falfas, a president of the Parlement de Guyenne, bought it, restored it and gave it his name; the château is now a historic monument. The wine was valued early and for a long time. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, counted the Château de Falfax, as he spelled it, among the 2 first crus of Bayon, wines that needed long aging and were prized by a few connoisseurs. From 1868 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, placed it among the 4 crus that had held the first rank of the Bourgeais for more than 100 years, and in 1893 they described it on 1 of the finest slopes of Bayon, at the meeting of the Garonne and the Dordogne, facing Château Margaux; a former lord had sold its wine only together with that of his Médoc estates. The Chasteigner family won silver medals with it at Niort in 1865 and Paris in 1878, and from 1898 to 1922 it made 200 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels).

The 20 hectares lie on the south slopes of the hills known as the little Switzerland of the Gironde, on clay and limestone full of fossil starfish. Véronique Cochran owns and farms them, all biodynamically, with Biodyvin certification; her father, François Bouchet, farmed biodynamically and put his 50 years of practice and teaching into a book. Château Falfas is 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec from vines 35 years old, aged 12 months in barrel. Le Chevalier, from vines 75 years old, is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, and spends 20 to 24 months in new oak; Les Demoiselles de Falfas is kept 6 to 8 months in tank.

At a glance

Appellation

Côtes de Bourg

Commune

Bayon-sur-Gironde

Classification

No classification

Owner

Véronique Cochran

Vineyard

20 hectares on south slopes

Ground

Clay and limestone with fossil starfish

Grapes

Château Falfas: Merlot 55%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Malbec 5%

Farming

Biodynamic, certified Biodyvin

Cellar

12 months in barrel; Le Chevalier 20 to 24 months in new oak

Wines

Château Falfas; Château Falfas Le Chevalier; Les Demoiselles de Falfas

The house

A château of 1612, in the Louis XIII style; a historic monument

In history

Among the first crus of the Bourgeais from 1824; 200 tonneaux from 1898

Sources: Château Falfas, in French · Château Falfas, vineyard and terroir · Château Falfas, biodynamics · Château Falfas, the wines · Château Falfas, the press · Côtes de Bourg, Château Falfas