Château Lamothe-Bouscaut

Bouscaut's vineyard has existed since the 17th century on the commune of Cadaujac, a Graves appellation at that time. Called Haut Truchon, it was renamed Château Bouscaut after the name on the land register in 1881. The various owners throughout the twentieth century were very dedicated to improving and transforming both the vineyard and the château. The neighbouring property, Château Valoux, became part of Bouscaut in 1929. In the thirties, the domain was cited as being a model estate by the Chamber of Agriculture and a race horse called Château Bouscaut won first prize in the coveted Maisons Lafitte race. In the same period, a tower was added to the main residential building and cellars were erected next to it.

The Château  hosted illustrious French singers such as Louis Jouvet, Maurice Chevalier or Gilbert Bécaud. The winner of many medals, the wines of Château Bouscaut were widely recognized. Consecration came in 1953, when Bouscaut was awarded the envied status of Graves Cru Classé, for both its white and red wines. In 1962, the château was completely destroyed by a fire while the cellars remained untouched. The owner, Victor Place, oversaw its reconstruction, to the exact original plans, before selling it to a group of investors from New York in 1968. The new owners brought in the directors of Haut-Brion to manage it.

Bouscaut was then acquired in 1979 by Lucien Lurton, a well known Bordeaux winemaker who already owned at least ten other prestigious châteaux in appellations such as Margaux (Brane-Cantenac) or Barsac (Climens),.... This passionate viticulturist recognized the potential and exceptional terroir of Château Bouscaut. Sophie Lurton, Lucien’s daughter has been looking after Bouscaut since 1992. Laurent Cogombles, her husband, an agronomist, has also been very involved since 1997. Laurent  is also the current President of the Appellation Pessac-Léognan.

Throughout the years, the Lurton family has made numerous improvements to the cellars (with a circular tank room in 1990 and a concrete tank room in 2002) before complete renovation of the barrel cellars in 2010 including the building of a 400m² cellar for the reds. This cellar's daring architure has the particularity of being covered with barrel staves... the vineyard is being replanted regularly and the white is gaining some ground with new plots. In 1990 Château Lamothe-Bouscaut was acquired: it is a 9 hectare vineyard with a beautiful manor house in the centre of Cadaujac.

Today, Château Bouscaut continues its journey, led with enthusiasm and innovation by its owners and team. Château Bouscaut has recently joined a program of environmentally friendly practices. Wine tourism is permanently evolving with various workshops available to do and the house at Château Valoux has been available for rental since 2011.

For the most part, Bouscaut’s terroir is composed of the most beautiful clay on a limestone base. Its ten hectares of white vines are in equal proportions of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc: it’s an important percentage of Semillon which is not very widespread in the region and it includes a very old block whosegrapes are magnificent.

The red grape varieties which cover about 40 hectares have equal proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with an additional hint ofMalbec – this is unique and a point of differencefor Bouscaut within the appellation. The vineyard is managed under integrated production guidelinesand we follow an environmental certificationprogram called SME (System for Environmental Management).

Throughout the year the tasks are carried out in thevineyard by experienced staff from labouring thesoils to keeping the vines healthy, pruning, cutting back, tying up shoots, leaf removal, green harvest and more in order to get to the harvest period with grapes at optimal maturity.

At the very beginning of September the Sauvignon Blancs followed by the Semillon open the gates to the harvest. After skin soak and partial settling, the juice is transferred to oak barrels of which 40% are new. It stays there until bottling a year later. The use of batonnage, which regularly circulates the lees into the wine, a technique adopted by the region in the early 1980s, gives complex, ample yet fresh wines with great longevity.

The harvest of the red grapes between mid- September and mid-October begins with the Merlotand finishes with the Cabernet Sauvignon. The reds are vinified in small concrete and stainless steeltanks. After the malolactic fermentation the wine ages for two years in oak barrels, of which a third are new oak. The red wines of Bouscaut are dense and complex with beautiful texture. Sometimes we produce a saignée rosé from Cabernet Sauvignon.

Château Bouscaut’s second wine, produced in both red and white is called Les Chênes de Bouscaut (The oaks of Bouscaut). We also produce Château Lamothe-Bouscaut and Château Valoux in both red and white.