Château Haut-Breton Larigaudière

The château

Haut-Breton Larigaudière goes back to the end of the 18th century, when a proprietor named Larigaudière gave it his name. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, lists Larigaudière at Soussans that year as the former cru of Deyrem, a judge, and by 1845 it was making 50 to 60 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). Its best years in the old books came under the Landau family. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list Château-Haut-Breton-Larigaudière from 1874 under E. Landau fils, with about 20 hectares of vines on fine gravel rises; it was among the superior bourgeois growths by 1883, won a silver medal at the Antwerp exhibition of 1885 and made 80 tonneaux in 1898, when it included part of the old cru of Saint-Monlon. In 1922, under A. Schars, it was still a cru bourgeois supérieur.

From 1930 to 1960 it passed from sale to sale and the vineyard was abandoned. On June 7, 1964 Ghislaine De Moor, wife of Émile De Schepper, bought 2 hectares of vines with the park, the château and the outbuildings. Firmin De Schepper took over in 1971 and bottled the first vintage at the château, and Jacques De Schepper, from 1988, brought the vineyard past 7 hectares by 1991. The family still holds it through its company, De Mour. Jean-Michel Garcion has run the estate since 1992, with Jérôme Batard in the vineyard and Cédric Guigné in the cellar; the château became offices and reception rooms in 2001 and has been open to visitors since 2011.

The vineyard is a scatter of islands, 20 plots at Soussans and 13 at Arsac, on clay gravel and deep sandy gravel over subsoils of gravel, iron pan, clay and limestone. It is planted 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, 25 years old on average, and has held Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) since 2018. The grapes are sorted several times and spend about 2 weeks in temperature-controlled vats. The grand vin (the estate’s first wine), more than 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, ages 15 to 20 months in French oak from 10 coopers, 50% to 100% new. Trianon de Larigaudière, the second wine, comes from the youngest vines, and Le Créateur, pure Cabernet Sauvignon made since 2000 in chosen years, carries the family name in translation: De Schepper is Flemish for the creator.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Soussans

Classification

No classification

Owners

The De Schepper family, through De Mour, since 1964

Direction

Jean-Michel Garcion, since 1992; Jérôme Batard, vineyard; Cédric Guigné, cellar

Vineyard

33 plots, 20 at Soussans and 13 at Arsac; vines 25 years old on average

Soil

Clay gravel and deep sandy gravel; subsoils of gravel, iron pan, clay and limestone Terroir of Margaux →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 70%, Merlot 25%, Petit Verdot 5%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, since 2018

Cellar

Grand vin 15 to 20 months in French oak, 50% to 100% new

Wines

Château Haut-Breton Larigaudière; Trianon de Larigaudière; Le Créateur

In history

A cru bourgeois supérieur under the Landau family; silver medal at Antwerp, 1885