Château Gigault

The château

Gigault had a name in Bordeaux long before its modern owners. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed it among the first crus bourgeois of Mazion from 1868, spelled Château-Gigot, under Bardon, avocat général at Rennes. It made 40 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) in 1874 and, under his widow, 100 by 1898; from 1893 the guide named Gigault, with the Cru du Puy, among the leading first crus bourgeois of the Blayais, and by 1901 it belonged to Mme Lancelin.

The present chapter began with a merchant. Christophe Reboul Salze bought Château Les Grands Maréchaux in 1997 with a Bordeaux broker, then Château Gigault in 1998 with Stéphane Derenoncourt as his partner. Between 2002 and 2008 he bought out his partners’ shares, in 2011 he added Château Belle Coline at Cars, named after his daughter, and in 2020 he left the négoce (the merchant trade of Bordeaux) to give his time to the 3 vineyards. Stéphane Derenoncourt still consults, and Jocelyn Le Bihan has run the vineyard and the cellar since July 2021.

Gigault has about 15 hectares at Mazion and Saint-Genès-de-Blaye, on alternating layers of clay and limestone. The vines get no chemical fertilizer or weedkiller; the soils are plowed and sown with cereals, and the vines are disbudded, deleafed and green-harvested. Château Gigault and its Cuvée Viva are both 100% Merlot. Extraction lasts about 30 days, the malolactic runs 75% in concrete and 25% in new barrels, and Château Gigault spends 12 months in cement vats and barrels, one third new, one third after 1 wine and one third after 2. There is a gîte on the estate for 15 guests.

At a glance

Appellation

Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux

Commune

Mazion

Classification

No classification

Owner

Christophe Reboul Salze, since 1998

Direction

Jocelyn Le Bihan, vineyard and cellar, since July 2021

Consultant

Stéphane Derenoncourt

Vineyard

About 15 hectares at Mazion and Saint-Genès-de-Blaye

Soil

Alternating layers of clay and limestone Terroir of Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux →

Grapes

Merlot 100%, for Château Gigault and Cuvée Viva

Farming

No chemical fertilizer or weedkiller; plowed and sown with cereals

Cellar

About 30 days of extraction; 12 months in cement vats and barrels, one third new

Wines

Château Gigault; Château Gigault Cuvée Viva; Cuvée Nature; Gigault’s Chardonnays

The house

Also Château Les Grands Maréchaux and Château Belle Coline

In history

A first cru bourgeois of Mazion from 1868; 100 tonneaux by 1898