Château Tour Saint-Fort

The château

Tour Saint-Fort lies at the lieu-dit Laujac, southeast of the village of Saint-Estèphe, and its story is one of rises and falls. In the 18th century the land belonged half to the seigneur de Pez and half to the Calon family; in 1773 it was sold whole to M. Ducasse, an advocate, who sold it in 1797 to M. Cazeaux, and it became known as Maison Cazeaux. His nephew, M. Lille, inherited it in 1814. At the end of the 18th century its wine sold in England at 400 livres the tonneau (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and later it fetched in Holland the prices of the 5th and even the 4th growths; it took the rank of cru bourgeois (a Médoc classification) after 1852. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list M. Lille there in 1874 at 45 tonneaux. He sold in 1879, the cru fell away in the crises of the late 19th century and was forgotten for more than 20 years, until Tenelus Pineau bought it in 1900, named it Château Pineau and won a first prize at Liège in 1905. In 1932 it was confirmed a cru bourgeois as Cru La Tour Pineau, with 6 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 of Cabernet Gris, Merlot and Malbec.

The middle of the 20th century took most of the buildings; the old cellar, a tiered vat house of the late 19th century, and the wall of a farm building remain. Replanting and building began again in 1992, and in 2016 the estate was bought and large investments followed. Of the 14 hectares, 80% is clay on the limestone known as the Saint-Estèphe limestone and 20% gravel to clayey gravel, on 2 other sectors of the commune near the château. Since 2016 the vineyard is being renewed and moved toward Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms), with the most dangerous products removed, doses fitted to the vines’ needs and the soil worked again. It is planted 59% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, with vines over 50 years old on average for Château Tour Saint-Fort and over 20 for the second wine, Baron d’Estours. Parcels are picked and made separately, with a cold soak in temperature-controlled stainless steel, a maceration of 3 to 4 weeks on average after fermentation and at least 12 months in barrel, new oak generally no more than 40%. It was a Cru Bourgeois in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe, at the lieu-dit Laujac

Classification

Cru Bourgeois in 1932, 2020 and 2025

Vineyard

14 hectares; vines over 50 years old on average for the first wine

Soil

80% clay on the Saint-Estèphe limestone; 20% gravel to clayey gravel Terroir of Saint-Estèphe →

Grapes

Merlot 59%, Cabernet Sauvignon 31%, Petit Verdot 7%, Cabernet Franc 4%

Farming

Moving to Haute Valeur Environnementale; soil worked

Cellar

Parcels made separately in stainless steel; at least 12 months in barrel, new oak generally no more than 40%

Wines

Château Tour Saint-Fort; Baron d’Estours du Château Tour Saint-Fort

In history

Maison Cazeaux from 1797; Château Pineau from 1900, first prize at Liège in 1905; Cru La Tour Pineau in 1932