Monprimblanc · Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux
Six generations of wine – from botrytised Cadillac to Brut Nature
Across 40 hectares of steep, rolling vineyards at Monprimblanc, the Bastide family produces an unusually broad range of wines. AOC Cadillac, red Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux, rosé, clairet and a zero-dosage Crémant de Bordeaux made entirely from Sémillon are all made at the estate.
Today Château Bourdieu Lagrange is run by Alain Bastide and his son Nicolas, the sixth generation of the family. Alain has worked the vineyard since 1990, while Nicolas brings modern equipment and precision viticulture to a business shaped by family experience.
The documented history of the property stretches back to the 19th century. A vineyard was established by 1877, and in 1886 the Cantau family bought the property, then known as Villa Lagrange, to add to its existing vines. Today, the estate remains in the hands of the Bastide family’s descendants.
For much of its history, the estate focused on AOC Cadillac and its luscious golden late-harvest wines. From the 1950s onwards however, the family progressively increased its plantings of red varieties and broadened the range to include the production of AOC Cadillac, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux, Crémant de Bordeaux, rosé and clairet.
Clay-limestone, clay-loam and gravel soils extend across the hillsides around Monprimblanc. The steepest parcels are difficult to mechanise and require considerably more time and labour to farm.
Nicolas has therefore been looking for suitable flatter parcels as he considers how to keep the estate practical to farm in the years ahead.
The vineyards are managed using agriculture raisonnée, limiting interventions according to conditions and need. Nicolas describes his approach as precision viticulture, using modern technology where it offers a genuine advantage while retaining practices that continue to work.
A neighbouring parcel of Sémillon planted around 1970 has also caught his attention. Old Sémillon of this age is becoming increasingly scarce and, although the parcel does not belong to Château Bourdieu Lagrange, Nicolas encouraged its owner to preserve the vines rather than pull them out.
The 19th-century vat hall has been extended over time, but its original structure and heavy oak beams remain. Grapes arrive at the upper level, allowing the reds to move down into the vats by gravity, also reducing the need for pumping.
Modern sorting equipment has been incorporated into the historic cellar, allowing two stages of sorting to take place. This process allows juice affected by rot, unripe berries and other unwanted material to be removed before vinification. While white and rosé grapes go directly to the press, the reds move by gravity into the vats below.
Two of the estate’s most distinctive wines show very different sides of Sémillon.
For AOC Cadillac, botrytised grapes are picked selectively over a series of passes through the vineyard, returning to the same plots as individual bunches reach the required level of ripeness and noble rot. Three or four passes may be needed in a typical year.
The wine is fermented in new oak and remains in barrel for around 12 months. Malolactic fermentation is blocked to retain the acidity needed to balance the concentration and sweetness of the botrytised fruit.
Sémillon takes a very different direction in Crémant de Bordeaux Brut Nature Lagrange Bastide. The grapes are hand-harvested into crates and pneumatically pressed before fermentation in concrete vats. Only the finest juice is selected for the Crémant, which undergoes its second fermentation in bottle and spends at least 24 months on its lees.
No dosage is added, leaving the structure, fruit and natural freshness of the Sémillon to provide the balance.
Six generations have seen considerable change at Château Bourdieu Lagrange. Even though the family still makes the AOC Cadillac that was once the mainstay of the estate, red, rosé, clairet and Crémant are now firmly part of the range as well.
For Nicolas, the decisions now go well beyond the wines themselves, from how best to manage the steep slopes and make use of flatter parcels to preserving old Sémillon vines as they become increasingly scarce.
With the history of the Bastide family working these vineyards behind him, Nicolas must now decide what they will be preserving, and where the estate needs to adapt for the years ahead.
