Château Petit-Village

The estate

Petit-Village is older than its paper trail. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list it at Pomerol from 1868, under de Seguin, then Buidin-Buffin and, from 1886, J.-P. Héron, at 45 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) by 1898. In 1922 they print it as Château Petit-Village, a 1er cru classé under Fernand Ginestet, and call it a very old vineyard “whose reputation is lost in the memories of the oldest growers,” on the fine gravel plateau that carries the great growths of Pomerol. The estate later belonged to AXA Millésimes. In June 2020 the Moulin family, owners of Château Beauregard, bought it; Augustin Belloy represents the family, Vincent Priou is managing director of its 3 estates, and Guillaume Fredoux, technical director of Beauregard since 2015, took charge of Petit-Village from the 2020 vintage.

The vineyard lies on the high part of the plateau, 35 to 38 meters up, in the heart of the appellation, with Le Pin, Vieux Château Certan and La Conseillante for neighbors. It is 10.5 hectares in 1 piece, shaped like an equilateral triangle, on red gravel of quartz and flint over clay, and planted 75% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. The rows are grassed, and a horse-drawn plow works the old vines planted in 1948. The estate has held Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 since 2018 and began converting to organic farming in 2020.

The grapes are picked by hand into trays of 8 kilos, chilled to about 5°C and sorted 3 times. Each plot ferments apart in temperature-controlled concrete vats after a cold soak, with 20 to 25 days on the skins and punching down since 2007. The malolactic runs in barrel, and the wine ages about 15 months in French oak, 30% to 50% new. The second wine is Le Petit de Petit-Village.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, the high plateau, 35 to 38 meters

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Moulin family, since June 2020, represented by Augustin Belloy

Direction

Vincent Priou, managing director; Guillaume Fredoux, technical director, from the 2020 vintage

Vineyard

10.5 hectares in 1 piece, an equilateral triangle; old vines planted in 1948

Ground

Red gravel of quartz and flint over clay

Grapes

Merlot 75%, Cabernet Franc 18%, Cabernet Sauvignon 7%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2018; organic conversion begun in 2020; horse-drawn plow in the old vines

Cellar

Picked by hand; sorted 3 times; concrete vats, plot by plot; malolactic in barrel; about 15 months in French oak, 30% to 50% new

Wines

Château Petit-Village; Le Petit de Petit-Village

The house

Also Château Beauregard, Pomerol

In history

At Pomerol from 1868; 45 tonneaux by 1898; a 1er cru classé under Fernand Ginestet in 1922

Sources: Château Petit-Village, identity · Château Petit-Village, terroir · Château Petit-Village, the team · Château Petit-Village, the wines