Château La Cabanne

The château

La Cabanne stands on the western slope of the Pomerol plateau, on the blue clay the appellation is known for, over a subsoil of mâchefer, the iron pan the Libournais also call crasse de fer. The vine has grown here since Gallo-Roman times and the name goes back to the 14th century. The trade books show it climbing. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, had it in 1868 among the artisans and small growers of Pomerol, at 6 to 10 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), under Destrille, and by 1886 in the first class. Their edition of 1893, under the Lavau brothers, describes an estate of about 10 hectares on clay and gravel over mâchefer, whose old vines had been saved from phylloxera with carbon disulfide while the rest was regrafted with Merlot, Cabernet and Malbec on riparia or jacquez rootstock. In 1897 Féret gave it 14 hectares and wines of 1890 selling at 2,400 francs the tonneau, and noted a ministerial gold medal won in 1896 for the keeping of the vineyard; an English book of 1920, Clarets and Sauternes, put the crop at 50 tonneaux.

The Estagers came to wine by way of trade. François Estager left the Corrèze for Libourne in 1912 to set up as a merchant and began growing in Montagne-Saint-Émilion and Pomerol in 1934; the family bought La Cabanne in 1952. His son Jean-Pierre took over in 1966, and his grandson, another François Estager, is managing director today, with Thomas Duclos of Oenoteam as consultant. After a fire in March 2010 the whole place was rebuilt.

The wine is Merlot with a little Cabernet Franc, and in some vintages Merlot alone. The grapes are picked by hand, plot by plot, with the berries selected; the wine ferments in small conical vats under controlled temperature, with regular pumping over and punching down, and macerates for about 20 days. La Cabanne is certified organic from the 2024 vintage. The second wine, from the young vines, is Domaine de Compostelle. The 2016, which I tasted in January 2026, had moved past the exuberance of youth into a calm confidence: settled fruit, tannins resolved without losing their grip, and a savory note of truffle that had been less obvious a few years earlier. No fireworks, no excess, just balance. It is a Pomerol that does not demand attention and earns it anyway.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, on the western slope of the plateau

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Estager family, since 1952

Direction

François Estager, managing director

Consultant

Thomas Duclos, of Oenoteam

Soil

Blue clay over iron pan Terroir of Pomerol →

Grapes

Merlot, with a little Cabernet Franc

Farming

Certified organic from the 2024 vintage

Cellar

Picked by hand, plot by plot; small conical vats; about 20 days of maceration; rebuilt after the fire of March 2010

Wines

Château La Cabanne; Domaine de Compostelle

In history

A small grower of 6 to 10 tonneaux in 1868; first class by 1886; 14 hectares in 1897