Château Tayac

The château

Tayac takes its name from a village of Soussans. From 1875 to 1891 the wine of these vines went to Margaux as part of the chai Mellet; when that was divided in 1892, M. Larauza’s share became a cru of its own. Édouard Féret, co-author of Bordeaux et ses vins, the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, first printed Château-Tayac in his supplement of 1901, under Jean-Paul Larauza, at 30 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels): about 18 hectares, 10 of them in vines, mostly on the rises of the village, with a plot, les Peyrères, taken from the old estate of La Rigaudière and others at Grand-Poujeaux inherited from the Lestage family, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. It was still Larauza’s in 1922.

The Portet family has grown vines at Tayac, on the gravel hills of Soussans, for 4 generations. Guy Portet, the technical director, farms by the Cousinié method, which feeds the vines generously while cutting interventions sharply; Nicolas Portet makes the wine, with Michel Bernard Couasnon, the estate’s enologist for more than 30 years, and Nadine and Nadia Portet handle sales.

The vines grow on gravel and on clay and limestone, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot, at 9,000 a hectare, pruned double Guyot, deleafed and green-harvested for 57 hectoliters a hectare, and picked by machine and by hand. The grapes are soaked cold, then fermented 7 to 10 days at 28 to 30°C in steel and coated cement vats, 26 to 32 days in vat in all, and the wine ages 10 to 12 months in French oak, 40% new, for about 100,000 bottles.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Soussans

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Portet family, 4 generations

Direction

Guy Portet, technical director; Nicolas Portet, winemaking

Enologist

Michel Bernard Couasnon, for more than 30 years

Vineyard

9,000 vines a hectare; 57 hectoliters a hectare

Soil

Gravel; clay and limestone Terroir of Margaux →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Merlot 42%, Petit Verdot 8%

Farming

The Cousinié method

Cellar

Cold soak; 26 to 32 days in vat; 10 to 12 months in French oak, 40% new

Production

About 100,000 bottles

Wines

Château Tayac

In history

Born of the division of the chai Mellet in 1892; Château-Tayac of Jean-Paul Larauza from 1901