Château Fongaban

The estate

Fongaban was a known name long before the Taïx family. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, filed it under Monbadon, the neighboring commune, 2nd among its crus bourgeois, after the Château de Monbadon: 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) of red and 10 of white under Moreau in 1874, and 70 of red by 1897. The Taïx family bought it in 1932; the grandfather wanted to protect his family from the dark years he saw coming.

The vineyard has grown from 8 hectares then to about 40 today, mostly on shallow clay, in the commune of Puisseguin, right on the border between Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion and Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. Pierre Taïx, the vigneron, farms it organically, with no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or weedkillers, and with the soil worked regularly.

At a glance

Appellation

Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion

Commune

Puisseguin, on the border with Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Taïx family, since 1932

Direction

Pierre Taïx

Vineyard

About 40 hectares; 8 in 1932

Ground

Mostly shallow clay

Farming

Organic; no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or weedkillers

Wines

Château Fongaban

In history

Among the crus bourgeois of Monbadon from 1874; 70 tonneaux of red in 1897

Sources: Domaines Taïx, Château Fongaban, in French · Domaines Taïx, Château Fongaban · Domaines Taïx, Pierre Taïx, in French · Domaines Taïx, organic farming