Château La Lagune

According to the estate's own history, La Lagune traces to the late Middle Ages, when a Mr Eyral bought the 'Village de La Lagune' and turned the hamlet into a wine-producing estate. In the 17th century, Jean Lavaud, a King's Councillor and Controller of the Fortifications of Guyenne, expanded his holdings to include La Lagune, and in the 18th century the Lavaud family had the present chartreuse built. The estate's own site credits its design to 'the great architects of the time, Portier or Voisin'; some independent Bordeaux references instead credit Baron Victor Louis, architect of the Bordeaux Grand Théâtre, with construction placed at 1715 to 1734. The 1855 Bordeaux Classification ranked La Lagune a Troisième Cru Classé. The Bordeaux wine merchant Louis Seze arrived in 1886 and, with his daughter Marguerite, continued the estate's wine production. The severe frost of 1956 devastated the vineyard, and by 1958, when Marguerite Seze entrusted the estate to Georges Brunet, only 5 hectares remained planted with vines. Brunet undertook the replanting and restoration. In 1961, per the estate's own history, La Lagune passed to René Chayoux, owner of the Ayala Champagne House, before being bequeathed to a Mr Ducellier. The Frey family became owner around the turn of the millennium; Caroline Frey, an oenologist trained under Denis Dubourdieu, has guided the estate since 2004. In July 2025, Caroline Frey stepped back from directing Château La Lagune, along with the family's Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné and Château Corton C. Reporting the announcement, The Drinks Business quoted her statement that her sister, Delphine, who had for some time been 'fully involved in the vision, strategic direction, and image of our estates,' would continue to lead them, with their father, Jean-Jacques Frey, 'founder of our family group,' remaining a foundational presence. A new head winemaker was expected to be announced by Delphine Frey.

• Chartreuse built in the 18th century; the estate's own site attributes the design to 'Portier or Voisin,' while some independent references credit Baron Victor Louis and date construction to 1715-1734
• 1956 frost reduced the vineyard to 5 hectares by 1958, when Georges Brunet took over and began replanting
• In 1961 the estate passed to René Chayoux of the Ayala Champagne House, then was bequeathed to a Mr Ducellier, per the estate's own history
• Frey family ownership began around the turn of the millennium; Caroline Frey directed the estate from 2004 until stepping back in July 2025, when sister Delphine Frey took on leadership of the family's estates

La Lagune sits in the commune of Ludon-Médoc, which its own site describes as home to 'the most southerly Grand Cru Classé on the Médoc peninsula,' the reverse of the estate's older reputation as the Haut-Médoc's northernmost classified growth. The 110-hectare vineyard occupies a gravel hilltop the estate's own site calls one of the finest examples of the Médoc 'croups,' a case study often referred to as the 'Médoc island model,' a term the site attributes to the geographer René Pijassou. The light gravel is composed of pink, yellow, and white quartz, calcite, agates, and silica, over cooler, water-retentive subsoils. The wider estate covers about 150 hectares, per The Wine Cellar Insider, with much of the remaining land in parkland and forest.

• Ludon-Médoc: per the estate's own site, the most southerly commune with a Grand Cru Classé on the Médoc peninsula
• 110-hectare vineyard on a gravel plateau nicknamed the 'Médoc island model' (attributed by the estate to geographer René Pijassou)
• Soil: pink, yellow, and white quartz, calcite, agates, and silica gravel over cooler subsoil
• About 150 hectares total estate, per The Wine Cellar Insider, much of it parkland and forest

The vineyard is planted to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 10% Petit Verdot, described by the estate as 'the Médoc trinity.' Caroline Frey converted the vineyard to organic farming in 2016, and in 2021 Château La Lagune received biodynamic certification under the Biodyvin label, becoming the tenth Bordeaux wine to carry it; the estate's own site describes this as the result of fifteen years of work. A team of 25 winegrowers tends the vines year-round. Massal selection, first applied to Petit Verdot, has since been extended to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to match vine material to the estate's terroir. Harvest is by hand, with about 140 pickers bringing grapes to the vat room in 8-kilogram crates for parcel-by-parcel sorting and vinification. Fermentation takes place in a total of 72 temperature-controlled stainless steel vats ranging from 22 to 200 hectoliters, per The Wine Cellar Insider, allowing plot-by-plot vinification; the estate's own site describes the vat room as gravity-fed, with the harvest transferred by articulated stainless steel arms rather than pumping. The grand vin is aged for 12 to 14 months in French oak, with 50% of barrels renewed each year, using six different cooperages, per the estate's own site.

• 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot
• Organic farming from 2016; Biodyvin biodynamic certification from 2021, the estate's tenth-in-Bordeaux distinction
• Hand harvest by about 140 pickers in 8-kilogram crates; fermentation in 72 temperature-controlled stainless steel vats (22-200 hectoliters), per The Wine Cellar Insider
• Aged 12 to 14 months in French oak, 50% new barrels annually, per the estate's own site

La Lagune holds Troisième Cru Classé status in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. The estate's grand vin, Château La Lagune, is joined by a second wine, Moulin du Château La Lagune, made mainly from younger vines and favoring Merlot (50% of the blend, per the estate's own site); The Wine Cellar Insider dates its debut to the 1998 vintage and notes it was historically also referred to as 'Moulin de La Lagune.' The estate's own wine pages do not currently list a third wine, though The Wine Cellar Insider describes a third-tier wine, Mademoiselle L, sourced from a 30-hectare Haut-Médoc plot. The estate's own site describes the grand vin's style as fine, elegant, harmonious and balanced, with an 'aristocratic finesse' and velvety texture shaped by the gravel terroir.

• Troisième Cru Classé (Third Growth), 1855 Bordeaux Classification
• Second wine: Moulin du Château La Lagune, majority Merlot, debuting with the 1998 vintage per The Wine Cellar Insider
• A third wine, Mademoiselle L, from a 30-hectare Haut-Médoc plot, is documented by The Wine Cellar Insider but is not currently featured on the estate's own wine pages
• House style: fine, elegant, aromatically complex, with a velvety texture, per the estate's own account

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://chateau-lalagune.com/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/history/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/chateau-la-lagune/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/terroir/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/biodynamic-viticulture/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/moulin-du-chateau-la-lagune/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/vinification-aging/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/massal-selection/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/a-way-of-living/, https://chateau-lalagune.com/harvest-time/. Secondary sources: The Wine Cellar Insider, https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/bordeaux-wine-producer-profiles/bordeaux/haut-medoc-lesser-appellations/la-lagune/; Decanter, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/la-lagune-co-owner-caroline-frey-buys-swiss-vineyard-300355/; The Drinks Business, https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/07/caroline-frey-to-step-back-from-the-direction-of-domaines-paul-jaboulet-aine/ (29 July 2025). Last verified 2026-09-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs; conflicts are logged in conflicts.json.