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Château Mazeyres

Château Mazeyres

Château Mazeyres, in the heart of Libourne, is very closely linked to the history of Pomerol. Its plateau was served by two main routes, one of which was used many centuries ago by the Roman poet, Ausone, to travel to his villa called Lucaniac. Extraordinary pieces of pottery dating from the 3rd century, found on the site of the Château, prove that a Gallo-Roman villa once stood here. Vine growing at this property therefore goes back many centuries and, even according to the town’s archives, dates back to the 14th century.

With its splendid manor house built at the end of the 18th century, Château Mazeyres was purchased at the beginning of the 20th century by the Querre family which focused its efforts on producing a delicate and fruity wine for a clientele of French restaurants. In 1988, the Querre family decided to sell the property to the Pension Fund of the Société Générale Bank, which subsequently transferred its ownership in 2010 to Sogecap (the life insurance sector of this bank).

In 1992, Alain Moueix, a viticultural engineer and oenologist, was entrusted with the management of Château Mazeyres. Fourth generation of a family of Libourne winegrowers and wine merchants, he brought with him all of the skill and expertise of this region. He invigorated the vineyards by increasing their surface area and by reassessing the methods used for vine growing, wine-making and maturation; the fermenting room and wine-storage were modernised, the manor house fully refurbished and the quality of the wines maximised.

Driven by real ambition for this estate, Alain Moueix also formed close links with Bordeaux wine merchants and, for the past 20 years, he has worked to ensure the far-reaching international influence of the wines of Château Mazeyres. Sharing with his team a determination to make wines of ever increasing quality and purity of expression of their terroir, Alain Moueix has inspired new motivation at the heart of Château Mazeyres. The recent acquisition of 4 hectares of land at the core of the appellation and establishing biodynamic methods for vine growing throughout the vineyard will enable the wines of Château Mazeyres to yield their very finest splendour.

Château Mazeyres lies in Pomerol, the Gironde’s smallest appellation, an area reputed for the aromatic intensity of its wines and for the characteristic features of its terroirs which are part of this exceptional geological formation. The vineyards of Château Mazeyres are situated on a lovely hillcrest of sandy gravel with a sub-soil comprised of clayey-gravel; another part stretches across the Catusseau plateau and is made up of sands on a sub-soil containing a high concentration of iron-rich clay, known locally as “crasse de fer”.

Aware of this unique potential, from 1992 onwards, Alain Moueix decided to enhance and develop this vineyard so that it could reveal its authentic terroir expression. Initially, he opted for rational, sustainable vine growing methods and established an extremely precise system for managing each plot of the vineyard individually so as to reveal the diversity and complementarity of these different terroirs.

Furthered by his experience at Château Fonroque (which has employed 100% biodynamic growing methods for the past 6 years), Alain Moueix was able to observe significant changes concerning the interaction between the plant, the soil, the sub-soil and the environment, therefore producing an effect of authenticity and delicacy in the terroir expression of the wines produced. Quite naturally and very gradually, Alain Moueix wished to apply biodynamic growing techniques to the entire vineyard at Château Mazeyres. Thanks some sound advice from the consultant Jacques Melle and training given to the team for procedures that protect the environment, extremely satisfactory results have already been noted.

This is a new challenge for Alain Moueix who constantly seeks greater purity, depth, concentration and freshness for his wines. It will be made easier by the recent acquisition of 4 hectares of land situated where Libourne’s racecourse formerly stood. With soils comprised of clayey-gravel, two grape varieties are now grown on this new terroir: Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, bringing in turn a certain upright character and an authentic freshness to the wines. Length and an expression of purity, combined with more elegant tannins, are also going to shape the character of wines from Château Mazeyres.

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