Château Rabaud-Promis

The estate

Rabaud came to Antoine de Cazeau in 1660 as a dowry and stayed in that family for more than 150 years. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, still lists it in 1845 as a single property under Deyme, at 20 to 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and it went into the list of 1855 as Château Rabaud, a first growth of Bommes. Henri Drouilhet de Sigalas bought it in 1863. In December 1903 his son Pierre-Gaston sold the larger part, with the château Victor Louis had built, to Adrien Promis and kept 14 hectares; that sale is where the 2 Rabauds come from. From 1930 Fernand Ginestet leased the 2 halves and made 1 wine of them again, and when the lease ended in 1950 they parted for good.

The Dejean family held Rabaud-Promis for most of the second half of the 20th century, and Thomas Dejean directs it today; the majority holding now belongs to the Merlaut family of Château Gruaud Larose. The vineyard is 33 hectares on the Bommes slope, at about 6,600 vines a hectare, vines 40 years old on average, planted 80% Sémillon, 18% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Muscadelle. The estate makes sweet wine only, with no dry white. Promesse de Rabaud-Promis has been the second wine since 2008, and a cuvée named Raymond Louis honors an earlier owner.

At a glance

Appellation

Sauternes

Commune

Bommes

Classification

Premier Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Merlaut family, of Château Gruaud Larose, majority holding; the Dejean family before them

Direction

Thomas Dejean

Vineyard

33 hectares; about 6,600 vines a hectare; vines 40 years old on average

Grapes

Sémillon 80%, Sauvignon Blanc 18%, Muscadelle 2%

Wines

Château Rabaud-Promis; Promesse de Rabaud-Promis, since 2008; the cuvée Raymond Louis; sweet wine only

The division

Sold away from the Sigalas family in 1903; leased together with Sigalas Rabaud from 1930; parted for good in 1950

Sources: Château Rabaud-Promis, the story of the estate · INAO, cahier des charges Sauternes · Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, the classified growths