Château Rahoul

Built by the knight Guillaume Rahoul in 1646, this pretty chartreuse in Portets passed after the Revolution into the hands of the Balguerie family, Bordeaux négociants and shipowners, who enlarged and embellished the château and developed the vineyard in order to sell its wines on the Place de Bordeaux.
A wine estate since the 18th century, Château Rahoul was nevertheless not sold in bottle until the 1970s, after the purchase of the estate by David Robson, an Englishman in love with Bordeaux wines, who entirely restored the vineyard and asserted his wish to make wines of great quality at Rahoul. Having passed through Australian and Danish hands, the estate was acquired by Alain Thiénot in 1986.
In 2007, the arrival of Dourthe in the Thiénot group marked another decisive stage in the constant pursuit of quality led from the outset by the Thiénot family.
The vineyard now extends over 40 ha. To the historic vines of the ” tour du château ” are added plots in the communes of Illats, Cérons and Saint-Selves, bringing a diversity of terroirs that favours the best adaptation of the grape varieties to each type of soil.
The white grapes, predominantly Sémillon, are harvested by hand in open-work baskets to avoid any damage to the berries. They are then pressed under inert atmosphere in order to preserve the aromatic complexity and freshness of the musts. The château’s old orangery was specially renovated and rehabilitated in 2012, to house barrel vinification of the white wines in the best conditions. They are then aged on fine lees, with regular lees stirring, for 8 to 10 months, in this place with perfect humidity and temperature. With their fine balance between aromatic complexity, freshness and amplitude on the palate, the white wines of Château Rahoul elegantly withstand several years of keeping.
The red grapes are vinified traditionally, in a vat room equipped with temperature-controlled vats of varied capacities in order to respect plot selection. The wines are put into barrel as soon as the malolactic fermentations end, for ageing in barrels (20 to 30% new) for 12 to 14 months.
The regular evolution and adaptation of equipment and techniques and the meticulous work in the vineyard make it possible to produce very seductive red wines, in which the expression of fruity and elegant Merlots is enhanced by the complexity of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Château Rahoul is a member of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and of the Académie du Vin de Bordeaux.