Château Ferrière

The château

Ferrière was never a big estate, and the books before 1855 never thought it a Third. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, put it below the thirds that year at 1,200 to 1,400 francs the tonneau (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and again in 1845 and 1853; Charles Cocks agreed in 1850, and André Jullien in 1832 set it in a class running from the third growths to the best of the fourths. The brokers made it a Third in 1855, and Armand d’Armailhacq, whose La culture des vignes, la vinification et les vins dans le Médoc came out that same year, gave the reason: the wine had several times sold at the price of the thirds. That year the widow Ferrière harvested about 6 tonneaux from a few hectares in the village of Margaux. It was the smallest classified growth of the commune, or the joint smallest with Marquis d’Alesme Becker beside it: 10 to 15 tonneaux in 1824, 18 in 1898, with the Ferrière family still the owners.

Henri Ferrière sold to Armand Feuillerat of Marquis de Terme in 1914, and from 1952 the vines were leased to Lascombes: the classified rows went into another estate’s wine, and the name went onto a token bottling kept only to hold the rights. The rank never moved, because in this system a rank belongs to a name, not to the soil. The Merlaut family bought the estate in 1988, the lease ended in 1991, Bernadette Villars built a new winery, and 1992 was the first vintage of the reborn Ferrière.

The 2020, which I tasted in November 2025, came from a hot summer and still had the perfume and freshness of Margaux: floral aromatics, ripe fruit and a fine structure.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux Terroir of Margaux →

Commune

Margaux

Classification

Troisième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Merlaut family, since 1988

Cellar

A new winery built by Bernadette Villars; first vintage 1992

In history

Leased to Lascombes from 1952; the lease ended in 1991