Château Haut-Bages Libéral

The LIBERAL family ran the property in the early eighteenth century. Wine brokers from father to son, they sold the harvests to the Netherlands and Belgium. Their name adjoining the topographical designation, earned them invitations to the tables of political parties of the same name worldwide.

Over time, these connoisseurs gathered the best soils in Pauillac. Thus, this 5th Classified Growth in 1855 now has half of its vineyard adjacent to Château Latour and the other half behind Château Pichon Baron, on the heights of the »Bages" area, a large plateau, South of Pauillac.

In 1960, the Cruse family, owner of Château Pontet Canet, another 5th Classified Growth in Pauillac, acquired the estate. The latter was to regain its youth through an extensive program of replanting the vineyard.

However, it was in 1983 at the arrival of the Villars family that Château Haut-Bages Libéral really recovered its former glory. Today, the property is run by Claire VILLARS LURTON. She undertook an overhaul of the tool of winemaking and has adopted a new approach to the environment.

Château Haut-Bages Libéral is a 5th Classified Growth in 1855. The vineyard spreads over 30 hectares and half of its area is located right next to Château Latour. The other part of the vineyard is on the plateau of Bages, South of Pauillac.

Pauillac is not a town rich in Classified Growths by chance. This exceptional terroir is a gift of nature. According to Claire Villars, no less than 90% of the work is done in the vineyard. The idea is to bring out the excellence of the terroir of Château Haut-Bages Liberal.

She has achieved the challenge of producing generous, elegant and powerful wines.

In her management of the vineyard, Claire Villars Lurton is directing her thoughts and practices towards sustainable and integrated vine growing. In 2010, an experiment in organic farming was conducted on some plots of merlot and in 2011, in biodynamic on cabernet sauvignon.

THE TERROIR

The terroir is the result of three elements :

- The microclimate: Médoc has a suitable microclimate for vine growing due to the presence of two water masses which are the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde River. They regulate the temperature changes and act as natural temperature regulators. It means that the climate is temperate and there is no wide variations in temperatures.

- The constitution of the soil and subsoil: the vineyard of the estate is located on 2 sets. One is made of deep gravels and the other of clay- limestone and limestone-chalk. This type of soil gives the wine its power and mineral character. Much of these good lands overlook the estuary of the Gironde. The gravels were carried by the river from the Pyrenees during the Quaternary. They lie on limestone and the high porosity of the soil is favorable for natural draining.

In addition to the soil, the topography of ridges and hills of a part of the vineyard also plays a role in the water runoff. The " jalles" are small streams. They separate the hills and they drain the excess of water. It thus favors the deep rooting of the plants in need of water and food. This soil is good quality because it curbs the vigor of the vine and the risk of drought.

- The human contribution: the choice of the grape variety, clone and rootstock were done after the nature of the soil. The vineyard is composed of 70% cabernet sauvignon and 30% merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon is the "king of the grape vines of Médoc, it requires a long maturating period and prefers warm soils of draining gravels. Merlot is an earlier variety and is more sensitive to the drought. It prefers cooler soils containing more clay (greater water retention).

There is no translation for the word "terroir" and it comes from the inheritance of several generations of winemakers who, over the years, carefully noticed the places where the best grapes grew. A great wine also comes from vines of a certain age with roots going deep into the ground (minimum of 15-20 years of age). They were often planted by our parents or grandparents. The wine is to be appreciated after at least 10 years and up to 30-50 years of ageing. Thus, all the work we do is handmade and this great wine is the result of a long chain.

The date of the harvests is decided by the tasting of the grapes of every plot (skin and seeds). We are looking for a phenolic maturity with concentrated grapes and a good extractability of the tannins. The vinification lasts between 17 and 25 days depending on the vine variety, the soil and the age of the vineyard. The temperatures should not exceed 25° - 27°C during the fermentation phase. The aim is to obtain a well structured and powerful wine with fruit and ripe tannins.

During this first period of fermentation, two to three pumpings up are done daily until the disappearance of sugars and also three sheddings per vat in the first phase of the alcoholic fermentation. After the malolactic fermentation, the wines are transferred into the barrels. Those from the presses are carefully selected and blended according to their quality. They will contribute up to 10-15% in the blending of the wine in January.