Château Reysson

In the very heart of the Médoc heathland, near the commune of Vertheuil, lies the Château Reysson estate. Known in the 19th century as the “Bâtiment-Bigot” , after the name of its owner, a Bordeaux négociant, the estate was renamed Raysson, then Reysson, after the vast area where traces can still be found of the medieval building that first bore this name.
Already cited among the remarkable wines of the commune in the first edition of Bordeaux et ses Vins in 1850, the estate, acquired in 1891 by the famous financier Alfred Dreyfus, prospered until the beginning of the 20th century under the direction of his son Vincent de Premio-Réal, who rebuilt and extended the vineyard and ranked it among the best crus bourgeois of the commune.
Sold in 1933 by his heirs, the estate passed from hand to hand, gradually falling into oblivion.
The Japanese company Mercian Corporation acquired it in 1988 and entrusted the management of the growth to Dourthe in 2001. From then on, Dourthe devoted all its know-how to rehabilitating the vineyard: the first works involved gradually increasing densities to 6,700 vines/ha, raising the leaf surface area, applying sustainable protection throughout the vineyard and meticulous green work.
Subsequently, after a complete study of the estate’s soils, a vast replanting programme was undertaken, in which only the highest-quality terroirs were kept. Set on an admirably sunny rise, this clay terroir with a high content of Asteries limestone is exceptional in the Médoc and ideally suited to growing Merlot, which has always been largely predominant at Reysson. Entirely rethought today, the Reysson vineyard once again gives the full measure of its expression, revealing very harmonious, round and fruity wines with fine tannins and fine concentration.
At the same time, the winery was completely redesigned to enhance the quality of the grapes obtained after the plot-by-plot harvest: a harvest reception system with sorting, stainless steel vats of sizes suited to plot-by-plot monitoring, temperature control for cold pre-fermentation maceration on selected lots, and control of fermentation temperatures.
The vast building reserved for ageing houses in particular a magnificent air-conditioned cellar for ageing of 12 to 14 months in barrels.
In 2014, after thirteen years of tireless involvement and investment that equipped Reysson with all the tools to realise its potential, Dourthe acquired this estate, which today counts among the most remarkable Crus Bourgeois of the Haut-Médoc appellation.