Château Sigalas-Rabaud

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The Château Sigalas-Rabaud winery is located in the municipality of Bommes , part of the AOC Sauternes in the Bordeaux wine-growing region . In the Bordeaux wine classification of 1855 , it was classified as "Premier Cru Classé". The estate has 14 hectares of surface that the viticulture are dedicated, making it the smallest of the Premier Cru estates of Sauternes. The vineyards are not far from the former sister estate Château Rabaud-Promis and Château de Rayne-Vigneau .

The Sémillon grape variety has the largest share with a planted area of ​​85%. In addition, 15% Sauvignon Blanc is added. The Muscadelle variety is not used . The average age of the vines is a high 40 years and the average yield is 17 hectoliters / hectare. The harvest is carried out by hand in several harvest aisles in order to select the noble rotten berries. After the developing wine has reached an alcohol content of 13 to 14 percent through alcoholic fermentation in wooden barrels, it is pumped into stainless steel tanks and cooled down to 7 ° C for 4–5 days and stabilized. The wine matures after sulfurization nearly 20 months in oak barrels that are renewed annually to a third. From Grand Vin nearly 30,000 bottles are filled annually.

The second wine is called Le Cadet de Sigalas . Around 8,400 bottles of this wine are filled annually.

history

The history of the estate can be traced back to 1660, when the Cazeau family came into possession of what was then Château Rabaud through the marriage of Arnaud de Cazeau to Marie Peyronne de Rabaud.

After the de Cazeau family had owned the winery for more than 150 years, Pierre-Hubert de Cazeau sold the property to Gabriel Deyme in 1819. The wines subsequently had a good reputation and consequently the estate was classified as Premier Cru Classé at the world exhibition in 1855.

In 1864 Deyme sold his estate to Henri Drouilhet de Sigalas. Henri subsequently bought the former Château Pexoto and integrated the areas of this Deuxième Cru Classé (a second crop) into Château Rabaud without losing its status as Premier Cru Classé.

However, his son parted with part of the property in 1903 and sold it to Adrien Promis, who called the purchased portion Château Rabaud-Promis. The remaining part of the Sigalas family was named Château Sigalas-Rabaud.

During the next 26 years the wines of both sister estates were developed separately and the share of Sigalas was administered by Pierre Drouilhet de Sigalas. In 1929 his son Gérard Sigalas-Rabaud inherited the estate and later bequeathed it to his daughter, who married the Marquis René de Lambert de Granges. De Lambert de Granges hired Pierre Ginestet, who already owned Rabaud celebrities, as managing director. Up until 1949, both wines were marketed separately, but developed by the same team. This temporary rapprochement between the two estates only ended when Rabaud celebrities changed hands.

The Lambert de Granges family founded an operating company in 1972 in order not to have to divide the winery due to possible inheritance. Emmanuel de Lambert de Granges is currently the company's spokesman. The Cordier-Mestrezat group has also been a minority owner since 1994, but has a major influence on winemaking through Georges Pauli.

literature