Château Pédesclaux

The château

Pédesclaux was founded in 1810 and ranked a fifth growth in 1855. Jacky and Françoise Lorenzetti bought it in 2009 with their daughter Manon, and almost nothing has been left alone since: the vineyard went from 26 hectares to 48, the buildings were replaced and the farming was converted. Félix Pariente-Lorenzetti became president in July 2025. Christophe Congé, who spent more than 22 years at Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Duhart-Milon, is general manager; Félix Soulagnet runs the vineyard and Stéphanie Roposte the cellar.

The winery is by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and works entirely by gravity. It covers 8,000 square meters, 2,000 of them for the vat house, which is clad in slats of bronze anodized aluminum that change color through the day. Inside are 58 vats for making the wine plot by plot, in 12 sizes from 60 to 140 hectoliters, and a barrel cellar on 3 levels for up to 1,800 barrels. The wine is raised 14 to 16 months in barrel, half of them new.

The conversion is the other half of the story. Organic trials began in 2012 on 2 hectares and reached 7.5 in 2016, 12 in 2017 and 24 in 2018; the commitment became formal in 2019, and the estate was certified organic in 2022, which was also the first vintage made entirely by gravity. Biodynamic trials began in 2015 with Antoine Leptit de La Bigne, and the vineyard is now farmed half organically and half biodynamically. The change had a price, and the family has put figures on it: production costs up 15%, and yields down about 10% a vintage across the 10 years it took. The planting is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, on Garonne gravel over limestone, and Fleur de Pédesclaux is the second wine.

The 2015, which I tasted in February 2026, catches the estate as the effort began to show: dark cassis, graphite and cedar on firm but refined tannins, and at nearly 10 years the fruit, the oak and the structure beginning to align. An older bottle, the 2005, which I tasted in October 2024, was aging very slowly, black currant, mint, tobacco and cigar box with vivid fruit still present.

At a glance

Appellation

Pauillac

Classification

Cinquième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

Jacky, Françoise and Manon Lorenzetti, since 2009

Direction

Félix Pariente-Lorenzetti, president, since July 2025; Christophe Congé, general manager; Félix Soulagnet, vineyard; Stéphanie Roposte, cellar

Vineyard

From 26 hectares to 48 since 2009

Soil

Garonne gravel over limestone Terroir of Pauillac →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 62%, Merlot 24%, Cabernet Franc 11%, Petit Verdot 3%

Farming

Organic, certified 2022; trials from 2012; half the vineyard biodynamic, trials from 2015

Cellar

By Jean-Michel Wilmotte, 8,000 square meters, all by gravity; 58 vats of 60 to 140 hectoliters; 1,800 barrels on 3 levels; 14 to 16 months, 50% new oak

Wines

Château Pédesclaux; Fleur de Pédesclaux