Château La Cardonne

The estate

La Cardonne stands on the plateau of Blaignan, on gentle slopes open to the Atlantic wind on 1 side and to the Gironde on the other. The château and its vineyard are already on Cassini’s map of 1769 and Belleyme’s of 1785. Charles Cocks lists it under Th. Fabre de Rieunègre in 1850, and in 1868 his guide, by then the Bordeaux et ses vins of Cocks and Édouard Féret and the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, gave it 120 to 160 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) among the crus bourgeois of Blaignan, with a line about the ground that still holds: the commune ends to the south in the heights of La Cardonne, gravel resting on a bed of alios, the iron-rich hardpan of the Médoc. It was sold to M. Dubreuil in 1870; from 1874 the owner was Jeanty, general councilor for the canton of Lesparre, and by 1922 the Crédit foncier held it, at 80 tonneaux.

La Cardonne was in the first Cru Bourgeois classification, of 1932, but the estate of today is the work of 2 later owners. The Domaines Barons de Rothschild of Lafite bought it in 1973, drained it and replanted it, and most of the vines standing now are theirs. Guy Charloux bought it in 1990 and dug the Cathedral, a cellar 10 meters beneath the vines, with a spring running through it, which holds 2 million bottles; new cellars and a tasting room with a view followed in 2016. Magali Guyon, who came from Château Lynch-Bages, has made the wine since 2000.

The 45 hectares are gravel over clay on the plateau and, on the slopes, clay and limestone over blue marl, the limestone breaking the surface here and there. They are planted 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, most of the vines 30 to 40 years old. Each plot is fermented apart, the wine spends 12 to 16 months in oak barrels, and the bottles then rest 5 to 10 years in the Cathedral before they leave for more than 30 countries. In 2014 hail took more than 80% of the bunches and no wine was made. The Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc classed La Cardonne Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2020 and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2025, 1 of the 14 estates at that level.

At a glance

Appellation

Médoc

Commune

Blaignan

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2025, 1 of 14; Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2020; in the first Cru Bourgeois list, of 1932

Owner

Domaines CGR; bought by Guy Charloux in 1990

Direction

Magali Guyon, winemaker since 2000

Vineyard

45 hectares at Blaignan; most vines 30 to 40 years old

Ground

Gravel over clay on the plateau; clay and limestone over blue marl on the slopes

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 54%, Merlot 41%, Petit Verdot 5%

Cellar

Plot by plot; 12 to 16 months in oak barrels; 5 to 10 years in bottle before release

The Cathedral

An underground cellar 10 meters below the vines, for 2 million bottles, with a spring running through it

In history

Fabre de Rieunègre in 1850; 120 to 160 tonneaux in 1868; the Crédit foncier in 1922

Sources: Château La Cardonne, the estate · Château La Cardonne, the vineyard · Château La Cardonne, the vintages · Château La Cardonne, wine tourism · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020