Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion

WHY BUY IT ?

  • A unique vineyard in the world: landlocked in the town of Bordeaux
  • An exceptional terroir
  • A new state-of-the-art winery, designed by Philippe Starck
  • Elegant and regular wines from one vintage to the next

The history of Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion dates back to 1584, when Jean De Pontac gave to the Carmelites of Notre-Dame, a water mill surrounded by meadows and vineyards. The Carmelite Fathers will keep the name “Haut-Brion” for 200 years. Then the use gradually transforms the name into “Carmes Haut-Brion“. Never, during all this period, the domain changed ownership and gave rise to any of the transactions so frequent under the Old Regime. The confiscation of church property in 1791 made the domaine Carmes Haut-Brion a national good. It was bought at the beginning of the 19th century by Léon Colin, a wine merchant from Bordeaux, then passed on from generation to generation within the Chantecaille-Furt family. At the end of 2010, the property was sold to the Pichet Group’s assets. This prestigious purchase fits naturally in the context of the diversification of the Group’s activities. Since then, Château Carmes Haut-Brion benefits from the best care, extreme attention and important investments in the vineyard and the winery.

This terroir of 4.7 hectares, the only one in the world to own vines in the commune of Bordeaux, consists of vines aged 35 years on average. An atypical grape variety, composed of 40% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42% Merlot, embodies the other singularity of the property. The harvest is always manual and carried out with the greatest care. Today the objective is to stimulate the biodiversity of the vineyard and to express even better the potential of this magnificent terroir that is the plateau of Graves. Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion has thermo-regulated vats and small vats (40 to 80 hl) to harvest and vinify plot by plot. The acquisition of more modern equipment is one of the priorities of the Pichet Group. Patrice Pichet, a great lover of wines, but also of design and architecture, naturally turned to the designer Philippe Starck and the architect Luc Arsène-Henry to restructure the cellars in 2014. Work was completed to the 2015 harvest to welcome this exceptional vintage.

At the tasting, Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion offers wines with complex aromas, both powerful and refined, distinguished in the manner of Pessac-Léognan and resolutely unique.

Their Team

  • Owner : Groupe PICHET
  • Directors : Diane et Patrice PICHET
  • CEO : Guillaume POUTHIER
  • Techncal Director : Aurélie CARREAU
  • Consulting oenologist : Stéphane DERENONCOURT et Thierry RUTSMANN