Château Ferrière

At the end of the 17th century, Gabriel Ferrière, a ship-broker, acquired the property in the heart of the Margaux vineyards and gave it his family name. The Ferrière family were royal brokers from father to son and worked in particular for Louis XV. In 1855 the estate was ranked a Third Classified Growth. At the end of the 1980s, after almost 300 years in the Ferrière family, another Bordeaux family, the Merlauts, became owner, and Bernadette Merlaut-Villars set about restoring the château. Bernadette Merlaut-Villars (d. 1992) was the daughter of Jacques Merlaut, and her daughter Claire inherited the property. In 1992 Claire Villars-Lurton left her studies as a physics doctoral student in Paris to take on her mother's role. Alongside Château Ferrière she inherited Château Haut-Bages Libéral, a Grand Cru Classé in Pauillac, and Château La Gurgue in Margaux.

• End of the 17th century: Gabriel Ferrière, a ship-broker, acquired the property and gave it his family name.
• 1855: ranked a Third Classified Growth.
• End of the 1980s: the Merlaut family became owner, after almost 300 years in the Ferrière family.
• 1992: Claire Villars-Lurton took on her mother's role at the family estates.

Claire Villars-Lurton is the owner. Charles de Ravinel is technical director and Alexandre Beaumont is cellar master and biodynamic expert, and Eric Boissenot was oenologist consultant for the 2025 vintage. Claire Villars-Lurton became an oenologist and started out working alongside her maternal grandfather, Jacques Merlaut. She is married to Gonzague Lurton, owner of the Second Growth Château Durfort-Vivens. In 2012 the couple created a new wine estate, Acaibo, in the Sonoma Valley, California, and they are founder members of La Belle Vigne, a consultancy guiding professionals towards sustainable viticulture.

• Owner: Claire Villars-Lurton, who also owns Château Haut-Bages Libéral in Pauillac and Château La Gurgue in Margaux.
• Charles de Ravinel, technical director; Alexandre Beaumont, cellar master and biodynamic expert.
• Oenologist consultant for the 2025 vintage: Eric Boissenot.
• Gonzague Lurton, her husband, owns Château Durfort-Vivens; together they created Acaibo in the Sonoma Valley in 2012.

The vineyard covers 24 hectares in the heart of the Margaux appellation, on deep gravel over limestone marl. It is planted to 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. More than one third of the vines, across all four varieties, were planted in the early 1950s; these old vines are not the result of clonal selection and are used for planting new vines by massal selection. Green manure is sown across the entire vineyard, with seeds chosen for the needs of each plot and the age of the vines, among them broad bean, mustard, rye, oats and clover. Hedges have been introduced around and within the plots.

• 24 hectares in the heart of the Margaux appellation, on deep gravel over limestone marl.
• 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc.
• More than one third of the vines date from the early 1950s and are used for massal selection.
• Green manure across the entire vineyard; hedges around and within the plots.

Since 2012 all the vineyards of Gonzague and Claire Lurton have been managed organically. Château Ferrière received organic certification in 2015, Demeter biodynamic certification for vine and wine in 2018, and Biodyvin biodynamic certification for vine and wine in 2019. The estate presents itself as the only Classified Growth to be twice certified biodynamic, by both Demeter and Biodyvin, and as one of the rare Classified Growths certified biodynamic in the cellar as well as in the vineyard. Château Ferrière is the Médoc branch of the Mouvement de l'Agriculture BioDynamique (MABD): its technical team supports estates undergoing conversion and produces the preparations they need. Horn manure (preparation 500) and horn silica (preparation 501) are used alongside decoctions, teas and fermented extracts of field horsetail, stinging nettle, wicker, valerian, yarrow, dandelion and borage bark.

• Organic certification 2015; Demeter biodynamic certification 2018; Biodyvin biodynamic certification 2019.
• The Médoc branch of the Mouvement de l'Agriculture BioDynamique (MABD), supporting estates in conversion.
• Horn manure (500) and horn silica (501), with plant decoctions, teas and fermented extracts.

Vinification is by plot, with alcoholic fermentation on natural yeasts, one daily pumping over for a gentle extraction, three weeks of maceration and temperatures below 25°C. The estate develops its own starter culture, avoids any input during vinification and limits the addition of sulfur to the strict minimum. 20% of the wine is aged in small ovoid concrete vats, developed by the property in 2012, and the larger part of the ageing takes place in oak barrels. The 2025 vintage came from Demeter grapes, at a yield of 25 hl/ha.

• Plot vinification, natural yeasts, three weeks of maceration below 25°C.
• Own starter culture, no input during vinification, minimal sulfur.
• 20% aged in ovoid concrete vats developed by the property in 2012; the larger part in oak barrels.

The grand vin is Château Ferrière, Margaux. Its blend varies with the vintage: the 2025 is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, while the 2021 is 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. The second label is Les Remparts de Ferrière; the 2022 is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 17% Petit Verdot. The Inspiration wines are made without added sulphur: Inspiration Orange 2023 is 50% Chenin Blanc, 40% Souvignier Gris and 10% Muscaris, macerated with the grape skins in amphorae, and Inspiration Rouge is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, aged 11 months in TAVA amphorae. The private cellar holds the estate's oldest vintages, among them 1952 and 1982.

• Château Ferrière (grand vin), Margaux.
• Les Remparts de Ferrière (second label).
• Inspiration Orange and Inspiration Rouge, without added sulphur.

Château Ferrière credits its biodynamic approach with wines 'more mineral, fresh and vibrant that fully express the terroir, without embellishment nor artifice.' In the estate's vintage notes, the 2025 shows ripe black fruits, plum and blackcurrant with spicy notes and silky tannins, and the 2023 elegant floral notes, a subtle minerality and a long, concentrated finish marked by blue berry aromas.

The one-hour Biodynamical Experience is a walk through the gardens, the herbal tea room, the vat room and the cellars, followed by a tasting of three certified wines. Claire Villars-Lurton welcomes guests to lunch in the château's dining room, built in 1877.

Primary sources (producer's own site, shared with the other estates of Gonzague and Claire Lurton):https://www.gc-lurton-estates.com/en/chateau-ferriere.html, https://www.gc-lurton-estates.com/en/family.html, https://www.gc-lurton-estates.com/en/biodynamics-and-sustainability.html, and the estate's 2025 technical sheet (PDF): https://www.gc-lurton-estates.com/download/ftfe2025_eng2.pdf. Secondary sources: Decanter (Decanter Staff, last updated 28 May 2015: https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/chateau-ferri-re-68341/; Elin McCoy, 17 June 2022: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/meet-the-innovators-481238/; Wendy Narby, 6 March 2023: https://www.decanter.com/wine/women-in-wine-bordeaux-498878/). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.