Château Preuillac

The château

Preuillac was already a vineyard in 1855, when a survey of the Médoc published that year listed it under M. de Laloubie at 40 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). Its modern life begins in 1869 with Edmond Adde, a Knight of Agricultural Merit, who replanted the whole vineyard on gravel and clay and limestone and won medals at every exhibition he entered: Paris in 1879, Bordeaux in 1882, a gold medal at Antwerp in 1885, Toulouse in 1887, Liège in 1906. In 1922 he passed it to Théodore Crozat, whose Preuillac also made white wine from Sémillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle, and in 1932 it was recognized as a Cru Bourgeois. Raymond Boüet bought it in the early 1970s and his family kept it until 1998, when the Mau and Dirkzwager families acquired it and Jean-Christophe Mau renovated it with Stéphane Derenoncourt. In 2014 the estate was sold to SAS Vin Plus.

The 30 hectares lie in one block facing south, mostly on sandy and sandy-gravelly soils, planted 52% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot; the vines for Château Preuillac average 43 years. Chemical weedkillers are gone, and the vineyard has been certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 since 2020. The cellar was rebuilt in 2019 with temperature-controlled oak vats averaging 160 hectoliters, down from 200, and 7 stainless steel tanks of 25 to 50 hectoliters; each year 60 to 70% of the wine spends 12 months in French oak barrels. Nathalie Billard has been technical director since 2008, Claude and Lydia Bourguignon advise on the soils and Derenoncourt Consultants on the wine. The other wines are Esprit de Preuillac and Émotion de Preuillac, and Preuillac was ranked Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2020 and again in 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Médoc

Commune

Lesparre-Médoc

Classification

Cru Bourgeois in 1932; Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, 2020 and 2025

Owner

SAS Vin Plus, since 2014

Direction

Nathalie Billard, technical director, since 2008

Consultants

Derenoncourt Consultants; Claude and Lydia Bourguignon, on the soils

Vineyard

30 hectares in one block, facing south; vines of 43 years on average for Château Preuillac

Soil

Mostly sandy and sandy-gravelly Terroir of Médoc →

Grapes

Merlot 52%, Cabernet Sauvignon 41%, Cabernet Franc 6%, Petit Verdot 1%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2020; no chemical weedkillers

Cellar

Rebuilt in 2019: oak vats of 160 hectoliters on average, 7 stainless steel tanks; 60 to 70% of the wine 12 months in French oak

Wines

Château Preuillac; Esprit de Preuillac; Émotion de Preuillac

In history

Under M. de Laloubie, 40 tonneaux, in 1855; replanted by Edmond Adde from 1869; a gold medal at Antwerp in 1885