Château Tour des Termes

The château

The name comes from an old tower standing on the plot, and Les Termes means the end of the land before the sea. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, first print the growth in their English edition of 1883, as la Tour des Termes, under Bernard, at 40 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and file it under Vertheuil; in 1898 they move it to Saint-Estèphe and place it astride the 2 communes, on clay and limestone. By 1899 it had been replanted on American rootstocks, two thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one third Malbec and Merlot, on upward of 20 acres that were soon to be doubled, and by 1922 it was a cru bourgeois supérieur under Xavier Bernard, enlarged with part of the cru Côme, another cru bourgeois supérieur of Saint-Estèphe, with silver and gold medals and 80 tonneaux a year. Pierre Anney bought the property and its tower in 1938 and made wine under the name Tour des Termes; from 1979 Jean and Christophe Anney carried it on and enlarged it. In 2023 it passed to the O’Connor family, who come from renewable energy in Ireland. Julien Brustis is its chief executive, and the new owners are planting white grapes.

The vineyard is 15 hectares in 3 blocks between the ocean and the estuary, two thirds gravel and one third clay and limestone: one block on a deep gravel terrace, 2 on clay over limestone. It is planted 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, at 6,666 vines a hectare, certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 and Terra Vitis, with grassed rows and no chemical weedkiller. The grapes are sorted on a table; the wine is pumped over 2 times a day in temperature-controlled stainless steel, with 20% fermented in barrel, and aged 15 months in French oak. The estate makes about 90,000 bottles a year, and it was ranked Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2025

Owners

The O’Connor family, since 2023; the Anney family from 1938

Direction

Julien Brustis, chief executive

Vineyard

15 hectares in 3 blocks; 6,666 vines a hectare

Soil

Two thirds gravel, one third clay and limestone Terroir of Saint-Estèphe →

Grapes

Merlot 60%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30%, Cabernet Franc 5%, Petit Verdot 5%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3; Terra Vitis; no chemical weedkiller

Cellar

Stainless steel, 20% fermented in barrel; 15 months in French oak

Production

About 90,000 bottles a year

In history

Under Bernard, 40 tonneaux, in 1883; cru bourgeois supérieur under Xavier Bernard, 80 tonneaux, in 1922