Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac

Known at the end of the 19th century as La Marzelle-Figeac, the growth was entirely reconstituted in 1895 by an industrialist from the north of France, M. Bouchard, after the phylloxera crisis. It comes from the union of former tenant farms: Clos Lamarzelle Grand Barrail and Lamarzelle-Figeac, detached from château Figeac in the second half of the 19th century. The adjoining Clos Lamarzelle estate was added in 1906.
From the first editions of the famous Féret, the estate was considered one of the finest growths of Saint-Émilion. It was in fact classified from 1959 to 1996. The Carrère family, who succeeded Mr Bouchard, owner at that time, gave it the motto “Qui me goûte m’aime et ne veut que moi.”
In 2005, Dourthe took over the property, aware of the remarkable potential of this 15-hectare vineyard in a single block, with an average age of 40 years. Located opposite famous Crus Classés, château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac enjoys an exceptional silica-gravel terroir benefiting from an undulating vein of blue clay in the subsoil. These ensure a perfect supply of useful water to the vine during its development and condition an ideal course of berry ripening.
Saint-Émilion is a privileged terroir for Merlot, which draws particularly from the clay subsoils of château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac all its expression of roundness and elegance. The plots with predominantly silica-gravel soils constitute the terroir of choice par excellence for great Cabernet Francs, with structure and great aromatic finesse.
From the takeover in 2005, a study aimed at establishing a precise map of the different soil types making up this formerly classified terroir identified 16 plots or micro-plots, to which all the cultivation principles that would allow the production of healthy, perfectly ripe grapes were immediately adapted.
The vineyard is managed according to the environmental principles of sustainable viticulture: each intervention is considered according to the plot, rather than for the estate as a whole. An excellent sanitary condition is thus guaranteed, with respect for the terroir and the vine.
The harvests, by hand, are staggered according to the ripeness of each plot or micro-plot, in order to build perfectly homogeneous lots in the vat.
Respect for the integrity of the grapes continues in the cellar too, whose design and equipment benefit from both the latest technical advances and the experience gained by Dourthe on its various properties. The harvest reception area is equipped with a vibrating sorter-destemmer, combined with a long sorting table, allowing berries to be selected according to their state of ripeness within a single bunch. Renovated and enlarged in 2006, the vat room houses small stainless steel and wooden vats whose number and capacities are suited to separate-lot vinifications. These lots are then aged in barrels for 12 to 14 months in a magnificent circular cellar of contemporary architecture.
Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac is a wine that stands out more for its elegance and finesse than for massive structure. It seduces with its balance and its aromatic purity underlined by delicate tannins and careful ageing. The breeding of its terroir is found in real aromatic complexity after a few years of development.