Yvrac · Côtes de Bordeaux
Five generations of family winemaking, guided by the vineyard
Some wineries are defined by the wines they produce, others by their history. Vignoble Pestoury is defined by the way it thinks about its vineyards.
At the heart of the estate is a simple philosophy, summed up by Bertrand Pestoury:
“Ninety per cent of the work is the plant. After that, in the cellar, we are just here to guide.”
Bertrand and Isabelle Pestoury work alongside their daughter Marie, the fifth generation, farming 38 hectares across four estates in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux Region. From planting and tending the vines to vinification and bottling they work, as they put it, “from the vine to the bottle with our own hands.”
For the Pestoury family, great wine begins long before harvest. Their aim is not to impose a particular style in the cellar, but rather to grow healthy grapes that reflect where they are grown and the character of each specific vintage.
That approach has shaped the estate for almost three decades, with increasing attention paid to soil health, biodiversity and reducing unnecessary intervention. Yet there is no rush to replace traditional methods simply because something newer comes along. Winemaking still takes place in a cellar dating from 1840, where concrete fermentation vats installed in the 1930s remain in daily use.
Designed to benefit from natural cooling, they are a good example of the family’s practical approach: if something continues to work well, there is no reason to change it.
Although managed as one family business, Pestoury’s four properties bring together a range of soils and vineyard sites, from clay-limestone plateaux and gravel slopes to sandy-clay and iron-rich parcels.
Château La Rose Bois Montet surrounds the family’s original cellar. Once divided between different branches of the family, it was reunited by Bertrand and Isabelle in 2002 and produces fresh whites, rosés and reds.
Château Haut-Greyzeau has particular historical importance as the source of the family’s first wine, created by André Pestoury. Its vineyards average around 65 years old.
Château Du Pin Saraille, on one of the family’s highest plateaux, produces the flagship oak-aged Cuvée Réserve.
Château La Fleur Moulineau, acquired in 1997, includes some of the oldest vines on the estate, with certain parcels now more than 70 years old. It has also become the centre of the family’s wine tourism activities.
Pestoury’s move towards organic viticulture happened gradually.
After Bertrand and Isabelle took over the estate in 1997, they steadily reduced chemical inputs. Chemical weedkillers were abandoned in 2010, followed by Terra Vitis and HVE3 certification. Full organic conversion began in 2020, with the first certified wines released in 2023.
Organic certification was not the starting point, but the result of years spent changing the way the vineyards were managed. Marie returned to work alongside her parents for the 2022 vintage and became part of the final stage of that conversion.
The family is also already adapting its vineyards for the years ahead.
Harvest dates have moved progressively earlier, and what was once spread over around two months can now be compressed into little more than one. Pestoury is increasing its plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, while also trialling disease- and drought-resistant PIWI varieties and introducing Colombard as part of its response to a changing climate.
Experimentation continues in the cellar too, including sulphite-free winemaking and the use of larger 400-litre demi-muids for selected wines.
The breadth of the vineyards can also be seen in the wines.
Alongside Bordeaux Blanc, rosé and classic Côtes de Bordeaux reds are more individual cuvées, including Château Du Pin Saraille Cuvée Réserve; Symphonie du Haut-Geai, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made from some of the estate’s oldest vines; and Soufflé des Moulineaux, a sulphite-free Cabernet Franc made using indigenous yeasts.
The family also produces still and sparkling alcohol-free grape juices, applying the same attention to the quality of the fruit.
Visitors are welcomed at Château La Fleur Moulineau, around twenty minutes from central Bordeaux. Alongside tastings and vineyard tours, the property has a wine bar, guest accommodation and motorhome facilities, offering several ways to spend time at the estate and discover the wines.
Five generations into the Pestoury story, Marie’s arrival has not brought a dramatic change of direction. Instead, another generation is adapting the same principles to new conditions in the vineyard and cellar.
“Great wine is made in the vineyard” is certainly a familiar saying, but at Vignoble Pestoury, it’s more. It is a philosophy that sits at the heart of the estate and everything the family does.
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