Chateau d’Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau d’Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn all the best vintages, the history of the property, and information on the vineyards and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau d’Aiguilhe History, Overview

While wine was being produced at Chateau d’Aiguilhe during the 1700s when it was owned by the Leberthon family. In those days, much of the land was used for agriculture and farming.

However, the modern era for the property begins in the late 20th century, when Etienne Martineau purchased the land in 1920 and created the vineyard. The estate came to be known as Chateau La Fleur d’Aiguilhe.

Stephan von Neipperg purchased La Fleur d’Aiguilhe in 1989 and promptly renamed the estate, Chateau d’Aiguilhe. At the time Stephan von Neipperg took over the vineyard, everything was in poor condition and needed renovation.

The vineyards also demanded complete replanting. The winemaking facilities needed to be completely rebuilt and modernized. Part of the modernization was in the cellars where Stephan von Neipperg created a new circular, shaped winery.

Chateau d’Aiguilhe is situated in a unique location. The vineyards are bordered on one side by a plateau. The other side is bordered by a small valley. This overlooks “l’Aiguille”, which is a French term meaning “needle.”

This is how the chateau found its name. Stephan von Neipperg owns several other Bordeaux wine properties in St. Emilion including Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, and Clos de l’Oratoire as well as property in Pessac Leognan and Sauternes.

Chateau d’Aiguilhe Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The large 90-hectare vineyard of Chateau d’Aiguilhe is planted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

The vineyard has a terroir of limestone and clay soils on sloping hillsides that rise to 110 meters at their peak. This is at the plateau of the Cotes de Bordeaux appellation.

At Chateau d’Aiguilhe, the vine density ranges from 5,500 vines per hectare to 9,000 vine per hectare. The higher levels of density continue to increase as the vineyards are replanted.

At the time the property was purchased by Stephan von Neipperg, the vineyard included plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, which were quickly pulled out and replaced with Merlot. On average the vines are 28 years of age.

Sustainable viticulture and a biodynamic approach characterize vineyard management hereby Stephan Von Neipperg. This means no herbicides, pesticides, or insecticides are used. Harvesting is manual into small plastic crates. The fruit is sorted twice, both before and after destemming.

To produce the wine of Chateau d’Aiguilhe, after intense sorting, the fruit is whole berry fermented in a combination of oak vats and cement tanks. In 2015, a complete renovation and modernization of Chateau d’Aiguilhe were completed. They added 9 new, truncated cone-shaped concrete vats giving them a total of 26 vats in all.

Maceration runs for 28 days with regular, pneumatic pigeages. Malolactic fermentation and sur lies aging take place in 50% new, French oak barrels. There is a second wine, Seigneurs d’Aiguilhe. Seigneurs d’Aiguilhe is vinified in stainless steel tanks that were previously used for the first wine. On average, about 20,000 cases of Chateau d’Aiguilhe are produced each vintage.

The best vintages of Chateau d’Aiguilhe are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2005, 2001 and 2000.

When to Drink Chateau d’Aiguilhe, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau d’Aiguilhe is much better with at least 3-5 years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for 1 hour to 90 minutes. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau d’Aiguilhe offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 4-15 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau d’Aiguilhe with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau d’Aiguilhe is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau d’Aiguilhe Querre is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau d’Aiguilhe is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

Chateau d’Aiguilhe Blanc

With the 2014 vintage, Chateau d’Aiguilhe introduced a white Bordeaux wine, d’Aiguilhe Blanc. Made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc, which comes from a tiny, 0.35-hectare parcel of vines planted in the Cotes de Castillon appellation.

The wine is vinified in 5-year-old, French oak barrels. There is no malolactic fermentation or skin contact. The wine is then aged for an average of 8 months in used, French oak barrels before bottling.

You should expect to see an increase in the amount of Sauvignon Blanc planted here in time. There are also plans to plant one hectare of Chardonnay vines outside the appellation.

www.neipperg.com