Château Sigalas Rabaud

The château

Henri Drouilhet de Sigalas bought Rabaud, a first growth of Bommes, in 1863, and the family name was on the wine long before it was on a separate estate. At the Paris exhibition of 1879 it was entered as the cru of Sigalas-Rabaud, and Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, recorded in 1883 the diploma of honor it took among the first growths for the vintages of 1870, 1871, 1876 and 1878. In 1903 Henri’s son Pierre-Gaston sold the greater part and the château, and kept 14 hectares of the best land; that piece became Château Sigalas Rabaud. By 1908 it had chais built for 125 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) and cellars for 58,000 bottles.

From 1930 the family leased the vineyard to Fernand Ginestet, who worked the 2 Rabauds as one property; when the lease ended in 1950 the 2 estates separated for good, and that year the de Lambert des Granges family took over the Sigalas side. Laure de Lambert Compeyrot directs it now, 6 generations on from 1863.

The vineyard is 14 hectares, vines 45 years old on average, planted 85% Sémillon, 14% Sauvignon Blanc and 1% Muscadelle. It has held Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3, the highest, since 2016, and Terra Vitis as well. Le Lieutenant de Sigalas, the second wine, was called Le Cadet de Sigalas until the 2004 vintage.

At a glance

Appellation

Sauternes Terroir of Sauternes →

Commune

Bommes

Classification

Premier Cru Classé 1855; Michelin Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owners

The de Lambert des Granges family, by descent from the purchase of 1863

Direction

Laure de Lambert Compeyrot, the 6th generation

Vineyard

14 hectares; vines 45 years old on average

Grapes

Sémillon 85%, Sauvignon Blanc 14%, Muscadelle 1%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2016; Terra Vitis

Wines

Château Sigalas Rabaud; Le Lieutenant de Sigalas, called Le Cadet until the 2004 vintage

The division

The smaller half of Rabaud, kept by the family in 1903; the 2 halves leased together from 1930 to 1950

In history

Entered as Sigalas-Rabaud at the Paris exhibition of 1879, 24 years before the division