Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey

The château

Peyraguey is Occitan for a promontory, and the 13th century keep at the heart of the buildings is why the estate was once called Château Pichard. In the 18th century it belonged to the président de Pichard, seigneur de Bommes; the Revolution sold it as national property, and Pierre Lafaurie, who bought it in 1796, put his name in front of the old one. Charles Cocks gave the Peyraguey of Lafaurie 65 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) in 1850, and in 1855 the brokers ranked one Peyraguey at Bommes. Comte Duchâtel bought it in 1865; in 1879 his heirs divided it, the upper part becoming Clos Haut-Peyraguey, and on June 26, 1879 this part was sold to Farinel and Grédy.

Désiré Cordier, a merchant, bought the château in 1917 and his house held it until 1984, bottling at the property when few did. Silvio Denz bought it in February 2014 and passed a majority holding to his Lalique group in November 2023. The hotel and restaurant opened inside the château in 2018, the year the property marked its 400th anniversary, and since the 2013 vintage the bottles have carried engravings taken from René Lalique designs. Vincent Cruège has run the estate since August 2019, with Valérie Lavigne as consulting enologist after Denis Dubourdieu.

The grand vin (the estate’s first wine) comes from 18 hectares of classified vineyard, with 3 more for the dry white, in parcels at Bommes and across the boundary at Fargues and Sauternes. The planting is 93% Sémillon, 6% Sauvignon Blanc and 1% Muscadelle, and recent vintages of the grand vin have been Sémillon alone. The grapes are picked by hand in 4 to 7 passes and pressed on vertical presses. La Chapelle de Lafaurie-Peyraguey is the second wine, and Le Lys de Lafaurie-Peyraguey, the dry white made since 2014, revived a practice the estate had dropped 60 years before.

I have tasted many vintages of Lafaurie-Peyraguey and have always enjoyed them; the oldest was a 1981, which was exceptional, and the 2005, which I tasted in May 2024, was superb. Tasted together in December 2025, the 1988 was vibrant, honeyed and beautifully defined, the 1990 richer and more opulent, all apricot, saffron and candied citrus, and between them they made the case that aged Sauternes is still an undiscovered luxury.

At a glance

Appellation

Sauternes Terroir of Sauternes →

Commune

Bommes, with parcels at Fargues and Sauternes

Classification

Premier Cru Classé 1855

Owner

Lalique group, majority holding since November 2023; Silvio Denz since February 2014

Direction

Vincent Cruège, since August 2019

Consultant

Valérie Lavigne

Vineyard

18 hectares of classified vineyard, and 3 more for the dry white

Grapes

Sémillon 93%, Sauvignon Blanc 6%, Muscadelle 1%

Cellar

Picked by hand in 4 to 7 passes; vertical presses

Wines

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey; La Chapelle de Lafaurie-Peyraguey; Le Lys de Lafaurie-Peyraguey, dry, since 2014

The house

A 13th century keep; a hotel and restaurant inside the château since 2018; bottles engraved to René Lalique designs since the 2013 vintage