Château
Château Graves de Pez
A grandson’s estate: 3.5 hectares of old vines on the gravel of Saint-Estèphe, taken out of the cooperative in 2009 by Maxime Saint-Martin at 21, and now a Cru Artisan du Médoc.
- Appellation
- Saint-Estèphe
The estate
Graves de Pez began on the side. Paul and Paulette Bussier, from an old family of Cognac growers, came to Saint-Estèphe in 1960 at the request of the Tesseron family to run Château Lafon-Rochet, which they did for 35 years, and they bought for themselves the parcels that lay too far off or were too awkward for the château to work. Their grapes went to the cooperative. Paul Bussier died in 2002 and the children carried on until 2009, when the Bussiers’ grandson, Maxime Saint-Martin, took over at 21, left the cooperative and began making his own wine. He also runs Château Vieux Gabarey, his father’s family estate at Lamarque.
The 3.5 hectares are gravel, planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot at 10,000 vines a hectare, with vines 60 years old on average. The wine ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel and spends 12 months in barrels, 1 third of them new; it is sold only in bottle, about 4,800 a year. Since 2015 a parcel that ripens ahead of the rest has gone into L’Irrésistible, fermented entirely in an oak cask of 600 liters and raised 18 months in barrels, 50% new. Graves de Pez is a Cru Artisan du Médoc in the classification for the vintages 2022 to 2026.
At a glance
- Appellation
- Saint-Estèphe
- Commune
- Saint-Estèphe
- Classification
- Cru Artisan du Médoc, vintages 2022 to 2026
- Owner
- Maxime Saint-Martin, since 2009
- Vineyard
- 3.5 hectares; 10,000 vines a hectare; vines 60 years old on average
- Ground
- Gravel
- Grapes
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
- Cellar
- Stainless steel; 12 months in barrel, 1 third new
- Production
- About 4,800 bottles a year
- Wines
- Château Graves de Pez; L’Irrésistible
- The house
- Also Château Vieux Gabarey, Haut-Médoc
- Not to be confused with
- Château de Pez
Sources: Maxime Saint-Martin, the history · Maxime Saint-Martin, the wines · Crus Artisans du Médoc, Château Graves de Pez · Qualisud, the Crus Artisans du Médoc classification, 2022 to 2026 · Maison du Vin de Saint-Estèphe, Château Graves de Pez · CIVB, Château Graves de Pez
The record
Château Graves de Pez is a Cru Artisan, in the Saint-Estèphe appellation.
The 1855 Classification was published on April 18, 1855, drawn up by the brokers of the Bordeaux exchange for the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Cru Classé
By invitation only.
On from here
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