Chateau de Ferrand St. Emilion Bordeaux Wine, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau de Ferrand St. Emilion with wine tasting notes, wine and food pairings, best vintages, a 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 de Ferrand History, Overview

Chateau de Ferrand has a long history in St. Emilion as it was founded in the 17th century.de Ferrand has one of the oldest chateaus in the appellation. In fact, it too can be dated back to the 1600s, when it was built by the Marquis de Mons de Dunes.

Chateau de Ferrand is one of the few Bordeaux properties to have remained in almost the same family’s hands since inception. In fact, as of today, Chateau de Ferrand has only been owned by two families throughout its entire history.

Chateau de Ferrand was purchased by the Bich family in 1978. If the name Bich seems familiar, it should. The family is famous for creating and owning the Bic pen company. Chateau de Ferrand is now also owned by a member of the Chandon Moet family, a name that might also sound familiar to you from their Champagne house, as they produced Dom Perignon.

Today, Pauline Bich Chandon-Moet and her husband, Philippe Chandon-Moet are responsible for managing Chateau de Ferrand.

Since the purchase by the Bich family, Chateau de Ferrand has been completely renovated and modernized. The entire winemaking facilities were completely rebuilt, including the vat room, cellars, and vineyards. In 2018, a second modernization was completed which included a new, tasting room and refurbishment of the chateau.

Chateau de Ferrand Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 32-hectare vineyard of Chateau de Ferrand is planted with 70% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. This shows a continuing increase in the Cabernet Franc as well as a decrease in the Merlot. The Cabernet Sauvignon has almost been completely removed. The plan is to continue planting more Cabernet Franc.

Located in the eastern portion of the Saint Emilion appellation, the vineyard is planted in one large block of vines. POne of the key features here is their slopes and elevation, which rises to almost 100 meters at its peak.

The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,500 vines per hectare. Though newer plantings are done at much higher levels of density at 8,50 vines per hectare. The terroir is mostly limestone and clay soils. The soil can vary here quite a bit in-depth, depending on the parcel.

This diversity of soils can make it difficult for some vintages to achieve the same level of ripeness across their different parcels. On average, the vines range from 25 to 30 years of age. Chateau de Ferrand was certified as being 100% organic in 2024.

While the entire estate is 32 hectares, it is important to note that at least 10 hectares of their property is devoted to forest land, parks, and greenery.

To produce the wine, the vinification takes place on a plot by plot basis in cement vats. The wines are aged in 30% new, French oak barrels for 12 months before bottling. This is a major reduction in the amount of oak being used here, which has really helped add more freshness and purity to the wines. In addition, a portion of the harvest is now being aged in neutral amphora.

Chateau de Ferrand is a large Saint Emilion estate. On average, they produce close to 13,500 cases of wine per vintage. There is a second wine, Chateau St. Poly, which was previously sold under the name of Chateau des Grottes.

The best vintages of Chateau de Ferrand are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009 and 2005. However, it is important to note that starting with the 2018 vintage, the wine being produced here made a big leap up in quality!

Prior to the 2010 vintage, Chateau de Ferrand was one of the few Bordeaux wine producers to age their wine in their cellars before it was sold to their clients. That is no longer the case as the wine is now sold as futures.

Selling the wine as a future is not all that is new at the property, one of the reasons for the recent spike in wine quality is due to bringing on Hubert de Bouard of Chateau Angelus as their consultant who works with the estate on their vineyard management, winemaking, and marketing. After de Bouard, in 2018, they brought in Axel Marchal as their consultant.

When to Drink Chateau de Ferrand, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau de Ferrand is better with at least 2-4 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. Chateau de Ferrand is best enjoyed in the first 4-12 years of life.

Young vintages can be decanted for about 1 hour or so. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Serving and Decanting Chateau de Ferrand with Wine and Food Pairings

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

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

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