Château Beychevelle
The Château Beychevelle is one of the most famous wineries of Bordeaux. Since the classification of 1855, the winery is classified as Quatrième Grand Cru Classé, ie in the fourth-highest level. On a total area of 250 ha Château Beychevelle has a bestockte area of 90 hectares, which produces only red wine of Saint-Julien appellation.
The Château is located in Saint -Julien- Beychevelle, in the immediate vicinity of the Gironde and in the vicinity of Château Ducru - Beaucaillou good, and right on the " Route du Vin ", the department of road No.2. The estate has been in the southern curve of the Route du Vin a huge discount flower box with the lettering " Château Beychevelle " and is a tourist attraction. The winery is owned by the Japanese beverage company Suntory, which since 1983 also the Château Lagrange heard. In the immediate vicinity of Beychevelle are also wineries Château Saint -Pierre and Château Gloria.
The wine
The area under vines is 90 acres, 62% is divided Verdot on the grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon, 31 % Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit. The average age of the vines is 25 years and the vines is at high 10,000 vines / hectare.
After a temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation, with values of less than 30 ° C, the wine spends 18 months in oak barrels, which are replaced every year to 50%. Before bottling, the wine is only fined, but not filtered.
From Grand Vin approximately 300,000 bottles are produced annually. From the second wine of the estate, Amiral de Beychevelle, typically reach 150,000 bottles a year on the market. Some plots near Saint -Julien originate grapes for a wine that is marketed under the more general Haut-Médoc appellation named Brulières de Beychevelle.
Château Beychevelle is accompanied and advised by the oenologist Jacques Boissenot and his son Eric.
History
The land was originally part of the Seigneurie de Lamarque. The Land of Beychevelle been built since at least the early 14th century. In the late 14th century, built a plant with attached Donjon near the Gironde, in order to defend against attacks in the mouth " Hundred Years War " can. Already in the Middle Ages, wine was shipped down the garden directly from the port on the Gironde from.
End of the 14th century was possession Archambaud de Grailly. Archambaud married in 1381 Isabelle de Foix, so that the ownership was transferred to the house of Foix - Candale under the division of an estate in the possession of the house Grailly. The future bishop François de Foix - Candale left in 1565, the Château ( castle ), Beychevelle ' build.
When Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette with Marguerite de Foix - Candale married the sole heiress of the estate in 1587, known under the name Château de Médoc estate passed into the possession of the Dukes of Épernon. Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, Admiral of France, was regarded in his day as one of the most powerful men in France. On him a legend goes back to the name Beychevelle. It is reported that all the French ships that passed lying on the estuary on just 1 km property, as a sign of allegiance painted the sails in front of him. This sign - bearish voile in French (ie "The sail move " ), bacha velo in the language of Gascony - led to the name Beychevelle.
Jean Louis ' son Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette was much like his father very little interest in this property, and when he died on July 25, 1661, he left behind a mountain of debt. In order to pay the debt the estate went briefly to the royal family and was eventually sold to the Abbadie family. Although this family showed little interest in this property, probably the first vineyards were applied on a large scale at this time.
After the estate was transferred to the family de Brassier, let François- Etienne de Brassier the present building in 1757 in the style of a Chartreuse Louis XV. build. After François- Etienne 's son François Arnaud took over the management of the estate. This, however, was forced to leave the country during the turmoil of the French Revolution. The estate was confiscated and sold piecemeal. One part was taken over by the owners of Château Ducru - Beaucaillou, the Bergeron family. Other plots were at Château Saint -Pierre. François- Arnaud's sister could only secure a large share of the estate, but had to sell to the shipowner and merchant Jacques Conte him already in 1800.
In 1825, the property went to his nephew, Pierre -François Guestier. In the time of Guestier the classification fell from 1855 in which Beychevelle received the rank of fourth crop. In 1874, the banker Armand Heine and his wife Marie- Amélie Kohn bought the estate. Through the marriage of their daughter, Marie -Louise and Charles- Achille Fould, a descendant of the former finance minister Achille Fould, the estate came to the family Achille Fould - that led the estate for three generations. In 1984, a majority of the shares of the operating company went to the GMF ( Grands Millésimes de France). Today, the Japanese company Suntory owns the majority of shares.