Château Thénac

Château Thénac is one of the rare wines that carries the name of its village. According to historians, the Thénac name is a reference to Athena, ancient goddess of wisdom.

The monks perhaps heard this call to wisdom when in 1109, they decided to build a priory dedicated to Saint Benoit. The priory stood for centuries before being destroyed during the Protestant rebellions of 1621. A new château was built on the ruins and was passed down from family to family until the arrival of the Shvidler family in 2001.

On foot, it would take a full day to explore all of the plots of land stretching out in every direct from the château. L’Îlot Pignier, La Blanquine, Caillevet, Pisse-Petit... Kilometer after kilometer, different place names pop up and with them new types of land; an impressive stretch of limestone here, flint and clay there. A little further along is loam, a mix of clay and sand that is relatively rare to the region. This incredible, geological mosaic is emblematic of Château Thénac’s wines.

The grapevines look as though they’re touching the sky, stood in a permanent breeze that removes the risk of frost and preserves the grapes from the high temperatures.

The mixture of both clay and limestone areas is only one of the aspects that sets the Thénac terroir apart. The altitude plays an essential role, too. The grapevines look as though they’re touching the sky, stood in a permanent breeze that removes the risk of frost and preserves the grapes from the high temperatures. The health and well-being of the grapevines is the priority. They must be able to draw on their resources as much as possible to naturally resist climatic variations.

Stéphane Guillot, a passion for great wines

Stéphane Guillot is a local, originally from Périgord. When he was still fresh out of oenology school in Bordeaux, the Ott family entrusted him with the production of the wines of Clos Mireille, in Provence. In 2012, seduced by the challenge and still attached to his roots, he joined Château Thénac. Just like an orchestra conductor, he spends every day leading the teams in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. Every task is undertaken with the utmost care and precision because the creation of a great wine is made up of an infinite amount of smaller details.

The villagers speak of a secret underground tunnel that connects the château to Thénac’s church, located just 200 metres away. The construction of the vat cellar in 2000 didn’t unearth anything, but the legend lives on.