Sainte-Croix-du-Mont · Loupiac, Barsac, Cérons and Graves
Eight generations, six appellations and a singular belief in golden Bordeaux wines
There is an old Bordeaux elegance to Olivier Fleury: courteous, knowledgeable and completely at ease among the châteaux, wines and traditions that have surrounded his family for generations. Yet the project that carries his name was not the predictable choice.
When Olivier began assembling vineyards devoted principally to Bordeaux’s luscious golden late-harvest wines, the category was being overlooked by much of the market at the time.
He went ahead because he believed in the vineyards. Beginning with Château du Pavillon at Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Olivier gradually brought together parcels and properties across some of the South Gironde’s smallest appellations. Today, his vineyards produce wines across six golden-wine appellations: Barsac, Cérons, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Loupiac, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux AOC and Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire.
The properties are supported by Maison Fleury-Dubourg, the family’s commercial and distribution business. Together, the vineyard and merchant sides give Olivier an unusual perspective: that of a grower working with small, highly individual sites and a négociant with experience across the wider Bordeaux market.
Olivier is the eighth generation of a family of Bordeaux winegrowers, oenologists and négociants. The family history brings together the Fleury, Dubourg and Gaussem names, with roots in the Bordeaux wine trade extending back several centuries.
Olivier began managing Caves Fleury in 1994 and became co-manager of the family company in 2009. That experience is evident in the assured way he presents both his own wines and Bordeaux more widely. He has the experience of an established wine family, but also the independence to pursue a part of the region that others had begun to neglect.
Olivier established Vignobles Olivier Fleury in 2013, beginning with Château du Pavillon, a property that had once belonged to one of his uncles, and Château Les Roques in neighbouring Loupiac. From those first nine hectares, he began to assemble a collection of vineyards across the South Gironde.
The plan went against the prevailing direction of the market. Golden late-harvest Bordeaux wines were difficult to sell and the appellations were small, fragmented and often poorly understood. Olivier saw something different: renowned terroirs, tiny production and a specialist category with its own identity. Rather than treating these wines as an increasingly marginal part of Bordeaux, he made them central to the business.
His aim is to let each terroir retain its own expression rather than impose a single house style across the vineyards.
Château du Pavillon stands high on the slopes of Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, looking out across the Garonne and the Sauternes valley. Directly opposite, the Ciron flows into the river, its cool waters helping to create the misty autumn conditions associated with the development of noble rot across this part of Bordeaux.
The château is a listed chartreuse built by the Laclotte brothers in 1761, although its left wing survives from an earlier fortified farm dating from the 15th century. Around the house are 4.5 hectares of white vines planted in 1945 on slopes formed from fossilised oyster deposits, one of the defining geological features of Sainte-Croix-du-Mont. Three hectares of red vines lie across the road overlooking the Garonne.
The breadth of Olivier’s vineyard holdings allows him to show how much variation exists within Bordeaux’s golden-wine country. Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Loupiac, Barsac, Cérons, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux AOC and Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire may share an affinity with Sémillon and noble rot, but their soils, exposures and resulting wines are not interchangeable.
Château Les Roques lies only around 700 metres from Château du Pavillon, yet it belongs to the Loupiac appellation. Its steep south-south-west-facing vineyard was planted in 1945 and is devoted entirely to Sémillon. Naturally low yields give wines of concentration and finesse, aged in oak and acacia barrels, with the best barrels in the strongest vintages selected for Cuvée Frantz.
At Château Fleury, Olivier has revived a historic name listed as a Cru Bourgeois in the 1922 edition of Féret. The seven-hectare vineyard includes almost three hectares in Barsac, with the remainder in Cérons. Depending on the parcel and vintage, it can produce Barsac, Cérons, Graves Supérieures, dry Graves and a small amount of red Graves.
Olivier’s work has involved more than acquiring land. Several of the properties and brands had fragmented or disappeared, and rebuilding them has meant bringing historic parcels back together and restoring vineyards.
Château Gravelines is one example. Its history dates to the 16th century, when its owner owed the Count of Benauge an annual tribute of two trained falcons and a pair of golden spurs – symbols that remain on the Fleury-Dubourg family crest to this day.
Olivier acquired 16 hectares of its historic parcels, woods and fallow land in 2023, including vines at Gravelines, Côte du Tich and Coureteau. The wines are now made at Château du Pavillon.
Maison Fleury-Dubourg provides the commercial structure behind the vineyards, with a wider business extending across Bordeaux.
Olivier’s own labels draw on another of his interests: 19th-century Bordeaux earthenware. A collector of pieces by Jules Vieillard & Fils, he took inspiration from the pottery’s Moustiers pattern. The central motif is an angelot, or small angel, carrying the crowned shield and scapular associated with Bordeaux.
It is a distinctive but also personal piece of design, connecting the wines to Bordeaux through its decorative arts rather than the more familiar château imagery.
Château du Pavillon welcomes visitors by appointment and can receive groups of up to 50 people. The estate also offers accommodation in part of the former fortified farm, with views across the Sauternes valley, and can host corporate events and filming.
The setting brings Olivier’s story together particularly well: the 1761 chartreuse, fossil-oyster slopes, cellars and view towards the point where the Ciron meets the Garonne provide a striking introduction to this small but remarkably varied corner of Bordeaux.
Olivier’s decision to specialise in these wines was unusual when he began. More than a decade later, he remains just as convinced that these small appellations and their individual terroirs deserve greater recognition.
His experience helps explain that conviction. Eight generations of family history have given him a deep knowledge of Bordeaux, while his work as both a grower and négociant means he understands the realities of the market too.
But, spend time with Olivier and what comes across most strongly is simply his enthusiasm for these wines and the places they come from. From Sainte-Croix-du-Mont to Loupiac, Barsac and Cérons, he wants people to discover the differences for themselves.
That, ultimately, is what Vignobles Olivier Fleury is about: keeping these historic vineyards alive, making their wines and giving people a reason to discover them.
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