chateau D'aiguilhe

Château d'Aiguilhe is one of the finest estates in the Castillon-Côtes de Bordeaux appellation. At the end of 1998 it was purchased by Stephan von Neipperg, who heads his family’s Bordeaux properties, including Château Canon La Gaffelière; his family has been involved in viticulture since the 13th century.

The ruins of the castle, inland, bear witness to a long history. The present building, in fact a fortified farmstead, dates back to the 13th century: in the Middle Ages the lordship of Aiguilhe controlled a vast territory and, during the Hundred Years’ War, on the border between French and English zones, it played an active military role. It later belonged to the Leberthon family, a renowned lineage of Bordeaux parliamentarians, and then to Étienne Martineau, who turned it into a large agricultural estate.

Today the estate extends over 140 hectares, 50 of which are under vine, located exclusively on the plateau, with natural drainage and excellent sun exposure thanks to the south-facing aspect. The clay-limestone and clay-silt soils, shallow and poor, rest on a limestone subsoil that ideally regulates the vine’s water supply. Harvesting is manual, in crates, with double sorting of the grapes; vinification takes place in temperature-controlled wooden and concrete vats and ageing in barriques and vats, on fine lees.

Alongside the Grand Vin, the estate produces the second wine Seigneurs d'Aiguilhe, fruity and indulgent, and since 2015 Le Blanc d'Aiguilhe, from 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The von Neipperg family follows an ecosystem-friendly, deeply organic approach, and welcomes visitors with tastings and walks among the vines.

Powerful yet fresh, the wines of Château d'Aiguilhe strongly express the identity of their terroir and reveal their full potential after a few years in bottle.