Château Magence

In the middle of a park of cedars and oaks, the house of Magence was built at the beginning of the 18th century for Jean de Magence. It is one of those “chartreuses” typical of the Bordeaux vineyard: a long single-storey house built over a semi-underground cellar. Surrounded by a vast vineyard, it appears on the very first map of Guyenne, drawn up in 1761.
For more than two centuries, this estate of 55 hectares, already listed in the 4th edition of Bordeaux et ses Vins in 1881, has been passed down in direct line to Count and Countess Jacques d’Antras, who today oversee its destiny.
Overlooking the Garonne, the vines are planted north-south on an ancient bed of the river. Two watercourses framing the property to the east and west ensure the freshness and humidity needed while protecting it from severe frosts. From pruning to the 100% hand harvest, each vine receives more than ten attentive operations a year. Traditional soil work, sustainable disease control, green harvesting and leaf removal are some of the practices that contribute to quality harvests with deliberately limited yields. The most recent techniques are combined with traditional ageing, either in stainless steel vats or in French oak barrels, in modern vat rooms and underground cellars.
A pioneer of the renovation of the Graves vineyard from the early 60s, Magence remains one of the leaders of the appellation. Its wines, considered typical of the Graves for their smoky, mineral side, have been regularly awarded prizes in the major tasting competitions for more than 40 years.
Dry whites and reds can be enjoyed young, on the fruit, but gain complexity with time. Both keep for about ten years, but the great vintages go well beyond.
A nod to history, the Magence label depicts one of the coins bearing the effigy of the Emperor Claudius (1st century AD), found in the well in the inner courtyard. A second label, Château Brannens, is a tribute to an ancestor. Leaving in 1796, at the age of 20, to sell the wines of Magence in the United States, he stayed there 12 years and on his return founded the first steamboat company on the Garonne.