Château Mongravey

The wines of Margaux from the Médoc region of Bordeaux are amongst the most famous in the world. Winemakers the world over try to emulate them.

It was the famous classification of 1855 - itself based on 100 years of history - that first established a qualitative hierarchy amongst the châteaux of the Médoc and since then there has only been one change - in 1973 Château Mouton-Rothschild was promoted to first growth. Ever since, the top châteaux of the Médoc have been the barometers of price for all Bordeaux wines. Unfortunately their prices are not within the reach of the majority - well, not for regular drinking anyway! However, the second quality level - cru bourgeois - certainly is and in 2003 a new classification was drawn up. This resulted in the removal of 215 châteaux previously designated crus bourgeois - and the addition of only 18 new ones. Château Mongravey was one of these 18.
Our winemaker Régis Bernaleau inherited a small vineyard from his father in 1980 and since then he has been single-mindedly expanding the property, investing in new equipment and improving the quality of his wines. Régis and his wife Karin now own 9 hectares of Margaux vineyard on some of the best, well-drained land and their efforts were duly rewarded when Mongravey was included in the new classification.

The vines are densely planted - up to 10,000 vines per hectare in places - yet the yield is restricted to a maximum of 45 hectolitres per hectare to ensure quality. Our exclusive cuvée is made from a blend of hand-picked Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) and Merlot (30%) grapes, which are de-stemmed before undergoing a temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel vats. The wine is then matured for 18 months in French oak barrels, 55% of which are new each year. The barrels come from 10 different suppliers and this helps add an extra degree of complexity to the wine, which is fined with egg white before bottling. Although it will improve for 15 years or more if carefully cellared, it is also ready to enjoy four or five years from the vintage.