Château Tour de Pez

The château

In the 17th century the land belonged to the abbey of Verteuil; an act of 1772 calls it the Maison de Lhériteyre, and in 1838 it was recorded as a cru under the name A Lhereteyre. That is the name the trade knew. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list A Lhereteyre in 1868 among the artisan growths, split between Andron and Jean Grazillou; from 1874 to 1899 it was Lhereteyre under Osmin Duret, at 40 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), among the crus bourgeois (a Médoc classification), and in 1922 Cru Lhereteyre under André Raymond, at 20. The Soulard family renamed it Château Tour de Pez in 1931 and, in the course of their renovations, pulled the tower down in 1933.

The Bouchara family bought it in 1989; it later belonged for some years to Château Lilian Ladouys, and in 2019 it went to Vignobles de Larose, an autonomous subsidiary of the Allianz group under Allianz Real Estate, as the 4th of its estates beside Larose-Trintaudon, Domaine Perganson and Château Arnauld. The new owners changed a great deal at once: tilling came back in 2019, with cover crops of chosen clovers and grasses, and since that year every grape has been picked by hand, by 25 people over 2 weeks, and sorted optically. A cold soak came in with the 2020 vintage.

The 19 hectares hold 39 plots in 3 zones, Haillan, Coutelin and Hôpital, on clay and limestone clay with the chalk bedrock showing in places, planted at 8,000 vines a hectare, 1 meter by 1, as is traditional in Saint-Estèphe. Merlot leads, with Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc, which is vinified apart and dosed to the vintage. The estate is certified Terra Vitis. The wine spends 14 months in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% 1 year old, chosen from 5 or 6 coopers in blind tastings; the second wine is Les Hauts de Pez. Tour de Pez was a Cru Bourgeois in the classification of 2020 and is not in that of 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe, the hamlet of Pez

Classification

Cru Bourgeois in 2020; not in the list of 2025

Owner

Vignobles de Larose, of the Allianz group, since 2019

Vineyard

19 hectares in 39 plots; 8,000 vines a hectare

Soil

Clay and limestone clay over chalk Terroir of Saint-Estèphe →

Grapes

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc 11%

Farming

Terra Vitis; tilled since 2019

Cellar

Picked by hand; optical sorting; 14 months in oak, 70% new

Wines

Château Tour de Pez; Les Hauts de Pez

The house

Also Château Larose-Trintaudon and Château Arnauld, Haut-Médoc; Domaine Perganson

In history

Lhereteyre, a cru bourgeois at 40 tonneaux under Osmin Duret, 1874 to 1899