Château Paveil de Luze

The estate

The vineyard of Paveil goes back to the 17th century; before the de Luze family, the lords of Bretonneau held it, and the old name lasted. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, listed the Château de Paveil at Soussans under Minvielle in 1845, at 50 to 60 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and named the Paveil Bretonneau among the best growths of the commune; a study of Médoc wines published in 1857 put Paveil-Bretonneau among the wines that sold for 50 to 60 francs more than the ordinary bourgeois.

Baron Alfred de Luze bought it in 1862, when it ran to 120 hectares, and it has stayed in the family since. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, ranked it a cru bourgeois supérieur by 1883, and in 1886 described a domain across Soussans, Arcins, Avensan and Moulis, with 40 hectares of vines and 48.5 of woods. The hard winter of 1956 did it great damage, and Baron Geoffroy de Luze rebuilt it from 1960. Frédéric de Luze has run it since 2004, with Stéphane Fort as cellar master.

The vineyard today is 32 hectares, facing east and west, on deep gravel in both soil and subsoil, which drains it naturally, planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The farming is reasoned: the estate manages its water, treats its cellar and spraying effluents and loosens compacted soil. It has been a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel from the 2018 vintage, and the classification of February 2025 kept it there, 1 of 14. Beside the Margaux the family makes a red and a white Bordeaux.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Soussans

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel from the 2018 vintage; again in 2025, 1 of 14

Owners

The de Luze family, since 1862

Direction

Frédéric de Luze, since 2004; Stéphane Fort, cellar master

Vineyard

32 hectares, facing east and west

Ground

Deep gravel in the soil and the subsoil

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Wines

Château Paveil de Luze, Margaux; a red and a white Bordeaux

In history

Minvielle at 50 to 60 tonneaux in 1845; cru bourgeois supérieur by 1883; 40 hectares of vines in 1886

Sources: Château Paveil de Luze · Château Paveil de Luze, the Margaux · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025