Château Couhins

The estate dates its history to the 17th century. At that time it comprised two wine properties, the Domaine de la Gravette and the Domaine du Pont de Langon, which merged to form Château Couhins. In 1883 the Bordeaux merchant Constantin Hanappier acquired the property, which then passed, through marriages and inheritances, into the holdings of the Gasqueton family, then owners of Château Calon-Ségur and Château Capbern Gasqueton in Saint-Estèphe. Under Édouard Gasqueton the estate extended over 60 hectares. Château Couhins was awarded the Grand Cru Classé de Graves title, and Édouard Gasqueton was in charge when the white wine was promoted to cru classé in 1959. In 1968 the heirs sold the property to INRA (now INRAE), which in turn sold 1.5 hectares of white-grape vines to André Lurton, allowing him to operate under the name Couhins-Lurton. Of the tens of hectares that had made up the vineyard a few decades before, only four remained. INRAE bought Château Couhins to give several departments of its Bordeaux research centre experimentation grounds close to their laboratories, with trials on vines, fruit trees and annual plants. Over the following years INRAE restructured the vineyard into new plots and restored its drainage network, creating four kilometres of ditches and six kilometres of paths and rows and reconditioning a further 30 hectares of land for drainage. A detailed soil map, drawn on a 50-metre grid, guided the later replanting. The current cellars and production buildings were built in 1981, followed by a barrel cellar and visitor centre in 2010. Until 2008 the wines could only be bought by INRAE employees; they are now sold on French and international markets.

• 17th century: the estate's history begins, with two properties, the Domaine de la Gravette and the Domaine du Pont de Langon, later merged as Château Couhins.
• 1883: acquired by the Bordeaux merchant Constantin Hanappier, then passed by marriages and inheritances to the Gasqueton family.
• 1959: the white wine promoted to cru classé; Château Couhins holds the Grand Cru Classé de Graves title.
• 1968: sold by the heirs to the estate to INRA (now INRAE), which sold 1.5 hectares of white-grape vines to André Lurton.
• 1981: current cellars and production buildings built; 2010: barrel cellar and visitor centre.

Dominique Forget is General Manager. INRAE entrusted him in 1999 with the direction of its Bordeaux viticultural estates, the Domaine du Grand Parc in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Château Couhins. Alix Bern, Cellar Master, joined the Couhins team in 2020. Jérôme Miramon is Vineyard Manager, with past experience at Château Malartic-Lagravière and Château Haut-Brion. Norma Cuisset is Administration Manager, and Pierre Marazanof became Château Couhins' Commercial Manager in November 2021 and is Commercial and Marketing Manager. Dominique Forget works with an eight-person team.

• Owner: INRAE, since 1968.
• General Manager: Dominique Forget, entrusted by INRAE with the estate in 1999.
• Cellar Master: Alix Bern, at Couhins since 2020. Vineyard Manager: Jérôme Miramon.
• Administration Manager: Norma Cuisset. Commercial and Marketing Manager: Pierre Marazanof, at Couhins since November 2021.

Two-thirds of Château Couhins' 32 hectares of vineyard are red grapes and one-third white. For red wines the estate grows the four Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; for white wines it grows only Sauvignon Blanc, and it has stated an aim to reintroduce Sémillon on its finest terroirs from 2024. The estate's soil map shows three major zones: the Graves croupe, a layer of pebbles on a compact clay subsoil, suited to Cabernet Sauvignon; the clay-limestone slope on the northern hillside, the coolest part of the estate, whose soils retain water and suit the drought-sensitive Sauvignon Blanc; and the sand and gravel plateau, formed from the erosion of the croupe, with a clay subsoil under a layer of sand, gravel and clay. The estate places Couhins close to the city of Bordeaux, with a temperate oceanic climate. The estate counts the planting of white varieties on its northern slope, long left undeveloped, as its greatest success. Vineyard work is done manually and adapted to each vine.

• 32 hectares: two-thirds red grapes, one-third white.
• Red varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. White: Sauvignon Blanc only, with Sémillon to be reintroduced from 2024.
• Three soil zones: the Graves croupe (pebbles on compact clay), the clay-limestone northern slope, and the sand and gravel plateau.
• Temperate oceanic climate; manual vineyard work.

In 2000 Couhins adopted a series of environmentally conscious practices, including a ban on herbicides, and since 2000 it has planted hedges and flower strips as an ecological corridor. The organic conversion was initiated in 2019, the year the estate officially applied for organic certification, and Château Couhins received its organic certification in 2022. INRAE announced that its first certified organic vintage would go on sale in October 2023. Saffron planted between the vines was harvested in October 2022, and since 2023 olive trees have been growing around the estate. Nesting boxes house birds and bats that prey on vine pests, beehives stand near the local stream, the Eau Blanche, and rainwater is collected to treat the vines and clean the cellars. The main building was built to France's HQE (High Environmental Quality) standards, with a zinc roof and a wood-and-glass façade, and solar panels sit on the roofs of several buildings.

• 2000: herbicides prohibited; hedges and flower strips planted.
• 2019: organic conversion initiated and certification applied for; 2022: organic certification.
• October 2023: announced on-sale date of the first certified organic vintage.
• Saffron between the vines (harvested October 2022) and olive trees since 2023.

Château Couhins grows and sells its own production and is also a testing ground for INRAE researchers and technicians and a hub for exchanges with winegrowers in the Bordeaux region and beyond. The property applies the results of the vine research carried out by INRAE and serves as the institute's showcase. In 2022 INRAE launched a thesis to characterize agroecology in winegrowing, with Château Couhins as its testing ground; the planned projects cover agroforestry and hedge planting, the use of animals such as chicken and sheep in plots, and soil health and biodiversity. For the 50th anniversary of the acquisition, INRAE announced a book, « Château Couhins », with texts by the historian Cécile Dantarribe, to be published by Éditions Féret.

• A testing ground for INRAE researchers and technicians.
• 2022: INRAE thesis on agroecology in winegrowing, using the estate as its testing ground.
• Book « Château Couhins » (Éditions Féret), texts by the historian Cécile Dantarribe, for the 50 years of INRAE ownership.

Grapes are harvested by hand into small slatted crates of 10 kg and sorted again by hand at the vat house. For the white wine, the Sauvignon Blanc spends the night in a cold room at 6 to 8°C and is pressed in whole bunches the next day in a pneumatic press under nitrogen; after a light clarification the musts ferment in 300- to 500-litre stainless steel vats, amphorae or barrels. The white wines are kept in separate batches by plot and matured for nine to ten months on their lees with gentle bâtonnage. The red grapes pass through a gravity separator, are gravity-fed into stainless steel tanks of sizes matched to each plot, and complete malolactic fermentation in vats and barrels; the wine is then matured for 12 months in stainless steel vats, casks, amphorae, and new or second-use barrels. Château Couhins Rouge is aged for 12 months with less than 30% new oak barrels.

• Hand harvest into 10 kg crates; hand sorting at the vat house.
• White: whole-bunch pressing; fermentation in 300- to 500-litre stainless steel vats, amphorae or barrels; nine to ten months on the lees.
• Red: gravity separator sorting; 12 months of maturation; less than 30% new oak for Château Couhins Rouge.

Château Couhins Blanc comes from a clay-limestone hillside and is built on Sauvignon Blanc; the estate gives its ageing potential as more than 10 years. Château Couhins Rouge draws on the four Bordeaux varieties, made as several lots per variety for blending, with an ageing potential of more than 10 years. The estate's shop lists four wines: Château Couhins rouge, Château Couhins blanc, Dame de Couhins rouge and Dame de Couhins blanc, all Pessac-Léognan. The tasting menu of the estate's site also names Cadet de Couhins and Grande Ferrade. Château Couhins holds the Vignobles et Découvertes label from Atout France and won a Best Of d'Or Wine Tourism award in 2015 and 2025.

• Château Couhins Blanc: Sauvignon Blanc from the clay-limestone hillside; ageing potential more than 10 years.
• Château Couhins Rouge: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; 12 months, less than 30% new oak.
• Dame de Couhins rouge and blanc: Pessac-Léognan.

Château Couhins presents its white as 'characterised by its freshness, elegance, purity, complexity, and minerality,' with 'an aromatic palette that is rich in citrus, white peach, exotic fruit, and floral notes.' For the red, the estate claims 'the characteristics of a great Pessac-Léognan wine: finesse, length, and a perfect balance between the tannic framework and the delectability of our grapes.'

Primary sources (producer's own site and shop): https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/6-our-history, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/fr/content/6-notre-histoire, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/7-terroir, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/8-the-team, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/11-in-the-winery, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/20-notre-philosophie, https://www.chateau-couhins.fr/en/content/22-chateau-couhin, https://shop.chateau-couhins.fr/fr/. Owner and official sources: INRAE, https://www.inrae.fr/en/news/chateau-couhins-sell-its-first-certified-organic-vintage and https://www.inrae.fr/actualites/chateau-couhins-propriete-linra-50-ans-recherches-viti-vinicoles-application; Vins de Bordeaux, https://www.bordeaux.com/fr/adresses/chateau-couhins/. Secondary source: Decanter, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/chateau-couhins-67750/. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.