Chateau Puygueraud Cotes de Francs Bordeaux, Complete Guide

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

Chateau Puygueraud History, Overview

Chateau Puygueraud was purchased by George Thienpont all the way back in 1946. The Thienpont family was already quite successful in Bordeaux by those days, as they were popular negociants and they owned Chateau Vieux Chateau Certan in Pomerol as well as Chateau Troplong Mondot in St. Emilion at one point as well.

The 27-hectare vineyard of Chateau Puygueraud was in such poor shape by the end of the 1960s, it needed to be almost completely replanted in 1970. This proved to be a good decision because prior to the replanting, a good portion of the vines was devoted to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Those vines were ripped out and replaced with Merlot. The last remaining Cabernet Sauvignon vines were removed in 1984. The first official vintage of Chateau Puygueraud that was produced under the direction of Nicolas Thienpont took place in 1983. The estate has not looked back since.

Chateau Puygueraud Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 49-hectare vineyard of Chateau Puygueraud is planted to 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. The estate has a terroir of clay and limestone with chalky sub-soils on sloping hillsides.

The Cotes de Bordeaux vineyard is planted with a vine density of 4,500 vines per hectare. Located on the plateau of Cotes de Francs, they are at the peak of the appellation at 117 meters. In fact, they are close to the peak of the entire Right Bank!

The vines are maintained at an average of 30 years of age. Progressive replanting is taking place all the time. This means the individual vines are replaced one at a time.

This is done using the selection massale technique where the budwood is drawn from existing, qualitatively satisfactory, plants from within the vineyard. This helps retain the original expression of the terroir while helping increase vine density. The vineyards are managed using mostly organic farming techniques, while also creating a bio-diverse environment.

To produce the wine of Chateau Puygueraud, during the vinification, Chateau Puygueraud sees a 30 to 35-day cuvaison in stainless steel vats using microbullage under the cap.

 

This is followed by aging on the lees for the first six months. The wine sees very little racking and ages in up to 50% new, French oak barrels. On average the annual production of Puygueraud is about 6,500 cases. There is a second wine, Lauriol.

In select vintages, a special wine is produced. Cuvee George, (Named after the father and founder of the estate) is a limited production wine with a unique blend that varies from vintage to vintage, but it always features a large portion of Malbec.

In 2010, the blend consisted of 45% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. This is the highest percentage of Malbec used in the blend of any Right Bank Bordeaux wine. Puygueraud Cuvee George made its debut with the 2000 vintage.

When to Drink Chateau Puygueraud, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Puygueraud is much better with at least 2-4 years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for 1 hour. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Puygueraud offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 3-12 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Puygueraud with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

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

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

The white Bordeaux wine of Chateau Puygueraud is perfectly served with all types of seafood, shellfish, lobster, crab, sushi, and sashimi, as well as cheese courses.

Chateau Puygueraud Blanc

In 2013, the estate began production of their white Bordeaux wine, Puygueraud Blanc. The wine is produced from a 4-hectare parcel of vines planted in 1997 in a slightly cooler, microclimate.

You also find more limestone in the soil in this part of the vineyard. The white wine grapes are planted to a mix of 55% Sauvignon Gris and 45% Sauvignon Blanc, representing the highest percentage of Sauvignon Gris used in Bordeaux. The wine is barrel fermented. There is no malolactic fermentation or skin contact.

As with many of the properties where the team of Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt manage the vineyards and the winemaking, they use the Vistalys system of laser optical sorting. This practice started with the 2009 vintage.

Nicolas Thienpont also owns Chateau La Prade and Chateau Les Charmes Godard which are both also located in the Cotes de Francs appellation that is better known for its wine Bordeaux wine, made from a blend of 70% Semillon, 15% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Muscadelle.

Chateau Puygueraud is an outstanding value-priced Bordeaux wine with character that has the ability to age a develop for a few years.

www.nicolas-thienpont.com