Château Pouget

The château

Étienne Monteil had the land in 1650, and in 1748 François-Antoine Pouget, a Conseiller du Roi under Louis XV, inherited it. His daughter Claire married Pierre-Antoine de Chavailles in 1771, and the Pouget de Chavailles family held the estate for more than 150 years; the coat of arms and quatrain the Maréchal-Duc de Richelieu gave the family in the 18th century are still on the label of the second wine. The Guillemets bought Pouget in 1906 and Boyd-Cantenac in 1932, and the same family has run both ever since: Lucien Guillemet since 1996, now with his nephew Olivier Salques. There is no château. The building on the site was put up as a chai and became a house only in the later 19th century, and 2 marble medallions set into its façade record the classification.

The vineyard is 10 hectares of vines within a property of 28, on lean, free-draining Quaternary siliceous gravel, planted at 10,000 vines a hectare, with vines over 35 years old: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. No chemical fertilizer has gone on it since the 1960s, and pruning and picking are done by hand. The wine ferments in cement and stainless steel, with 8 to 35 days on the skins depending on the year, goes through malolactic partly in barrel, and spends 12 to 24 months in barrels whose staves are split rather than sawn. Antoine Pouget, named for the founder, is the second wine. Pouget stays outside the Union des Grands Crus.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Cantenac

Classification

Quatrième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Guillemet family, since 1906

Direction

Lucien Guillemet, since 1996, with his nephew Olivier Salques

Vineyard

10 hectares of vines within a property of 28; 10,000 vines a hectare; vines over 35 years old

Soil

Lean, free-draining Quaternary siliceous gravel Terroir of Margaux →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Franc 10%

Farming

No chemical fertilizer since the 1960s; pruned and picked by hand

Cellar

Cement and stainless steel, 8 to 35 days on the skins; 12 to 24 months in barrels of split staves

Wines

Château Pouget; Antoine Pouget

The house

No château: a chai made into a house in the later 19th century, with 2 marble medallions recording the classification