Château Liversan

The estate

In the 18th century Liversan belonged to the family of the Marquis de Latresne, Knights of the Order of Malta, and since that century it has been grouped with Fonpiqueyre in 1 domaine at Saint-Sauveur, which borders Pauillac. Both books published that year on the Médoc call it the first cru of Saint-Sauveur, and Armand d’Armailhacq, a Pauillac grower whose La culture des vignes, la vinification et les vins dans le Médoc was 1 of them, counts its 25 hectares, on a rise of fine gravel, among the fifth growths in his own ranking. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, print it from 1868 as a cru bourgeois that sells like the fifth growths and from 1874 as a cru bourgeois supérieur, under Fleury-Ducasse, who won a silver medal for it at the Bordeaux exhibition of 1882; in 1922 it had 54 hectares of vines.

It was classed a Cru Bourgeois in 1932. Prince Guy de Polignac took it over in 1984, the Lapalu family farmed it as tenants from 1995, and in 2010 Antoine Moueix Propriétés, of the AdVini group, took over the Lapalu estates; since July 2019 Liversan has been part of a joint venture with the Chinese group Changyu. Philippe Marchal is technical director and Stéphane Derenoncourt consults. A Cru Bourgeois in 2020, it moved up to Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in the classification of 2025.

The vineyard, about 50 hectares in a single block, lies on sandy and silty gravel over gravelly clay, with fossil-rich limestone throughout the subsoil. It is planted 55% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot at 9,000 vines a hectare, and has been certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 from the 2018 vintage. The grapes are picked by machine, sorted on the harvester and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, and the wine ages 12 to 14 months, 1 quarter in new barrels, 1 quarter in barrels of 1 wine, 1 quarter in barrels of 2 wines and 1 quarter in stainless steel. Les Charmes de Liversan, from the younger vines, is the second wine.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Saint-Sauveur

Classification

Cru Bourgeois in 1932 and 2020; Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2025

Operator

Antoine Moueix Propriétés, AdVini, since 2010; with Changyu since July 2019

Direction

Philippe Marchal, technical director

Consultant

Stéphane Derenoncourt

Vineyard

About 50 hectares in 1 block; 9,000 vines a hectare

Ground

Sandy and silty gravel over gravelly clay; fossil-rich limestone below

Grapes

Merlot 55%, Cabernet Sauvignon 39%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Petit Verdot 2%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, from the 2018 vintage

Cellar

Picked by machine; stainless steel; 12 to 14 months, 1 quarter in new barrels, 1 quarter in stainless steel

Wines

Château Liversan; Les Charmes de Liversan

In history

The first cru of Saint-Sauveur in 1855; sold like the fifth growths from 1868

Sources: Antoine Moueix Propriétés, Château Liversan · AdVini, the Bordeaux estates · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, Château Liversan · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020