Château Andron

Château Andron is a family estate located in the Médoc, in the commune of Civrac en Médoc, where it benefits from a microclimate thanks to the proximity of the Gironde estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, which reduces the risk of frost and favours the growth of the vine.
The history of Château Andron begins in 1821. It was then still called Château du Moulin Gauchant, taking its name from a mill located on the estate, the only one in the Médoc whose sails turned to the left. The owners of the château, the Bernard family, had understood that the mill turned better this way with the west winds. On their 10-hectare estate, they practised mixed farming. Each of the crises the estate then went through – the phylloxera crisis, the First World War, the crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War – struck it a little harder, and it was eventually abandoned.
Christiane Bernard-Desalmand returned to her ancestors’ estate with her husband Jorge Castells in 1961, with the aim of rebuilding it. Many years of labour allowed them to enlarge the vineyard to 12 hectares and to give the estate a soul again.
Until 1986, the château took its grapes to the Prignac cooperative cellar. In that year, major construction work was undertaken on a winery with stainless steel vats and a barrel cellar. The first vintage vinified in the château’s cellars was 1987.
In 1996, the owners of Château du Moulin Gauchant bought the Château Andron vineyard, in existence since 1847 and classified as a Cru Bourgeois in 1932. The total vineyard of Château du Moulin Gauchant was increased to 30 hectares. On this occasion, it changed its name to Château Andron.
Today, the vineyard extends over 36 hectares. Jean-François Desalmand and José Castells, who represent the 7th generation, continue the work of their ancestors in a spirit consistent with family tradition. Jorge Castells nevertheless still provides them with his valuable advice on vinification.