Château Nénin

The estate

The Despujol family held Nénin for 150 years, from 1847, and when they sold, it stayed in the family: Jean-Hubert Delon, of Château Léoville Las Cases, a cousin, bought it with Geneviève d’Alton on the eve of the 1997 harvest. What followed was a rebuilding rather than a change of name on the deeds. The pruning and the trellising were changed, the land was drained, vines were pulled up or replanted, the equipment was renewed, a new vat house was built, and the aging and storage cellars were extended, refitted and air conditioned. Fugue de Nénin, the second wine, was first sold in 1997, the year the estate changed hands.

The vineyard is 32 hectares on the Pomerol plateau, in 1 piece but for a single outlying parcel. Under it lie Oligocene deposits covered by gravel the Dordogne carried down, with clay, siliceous gravel, quartz, granite, basalt pebbles and the iron pan the Libournais calls crasse de fer. The vines average 28 years and stand at 6,300 to 7,100 to the hectare. The clay and gravel of the plateau go to the grand vin (the estate’s first wine); the sandy clay in the east, and the young vines, go to Fugue.

The planting is 76% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Cabernet Franc is rising. The blends have gone further than the vineyard has: the 2021 was 64% Merlot and 36% Cabernet Franc, and the 2024 was 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, the plateau, at the entrance to Catusseau

Classification

No classification

Owners

Jean-Hubert Delon and Geneviève d’Alton, since the eve of the 1997 harvest; the Despujol family from 1847 to 1997

Vineyard

32 hectares in 1 piece but for 1 parcel; 6,300 to 7,100 vines a hectare; vines 28 years old on average

Ground

Oligocene deposits under Dordogne gravel; clay, quartz, granite, basalt pebbles and crasse de fer

Grapes

Merlot 76%, Cabernet Franc 23%, Cabernet Sauvignon 1%; the Cabernet Franc rising

In the blend

2021: Merlot 64%, Cabernet Franc 36%. 2024: Merlot 54%, Cabernet Franc 38%, Cabernet Sauvignon 8%

Cellar

New vat house and refitted, air-conditioned cellars after 1997

Wines

Château Nénin; Fugue de Nénin, first sold in 1997

The house

Also Château Léoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien

Sources: Domaines Delon, Château Nénin, the history · Domaines Delon, Château Nénin, the terroir · Domaines Delon, Château Nénin, the wines