Château Le Gay

The exact origins of Château Le Gay, including who planted the first vines, are not known. The Robin sisters, Thérèse and Marie Robin, owned Château Le Gay for sixty years, holding to their father's motto, "Qualité passe quantité". Catherine Péré-Vergé took over the property in 2002, having signed an option to buy Le Gay in late August of that year. Christian Moueix had made the wine at Le Gay for several years, an arrangement due to end once a new owner took over. Henri Parent, Catherine's son, then took charge of the estate, and a new round of works began in 2013.

• Owned for sixty years by the Robin sisters, Thérèse and Marie Robin
• Catherine Péré-Vergé took over the estate in 2002 and began a complete renovation of the property
• Christian Moueix made the wine at Le Gay for several years before the 2002 sale, an arrangement set to end with a new owner
• Henri Parent, son of Catherine Péré-Vergé, took charge of the estate; new works began in 2013

Henri Parent, son of Catherine Péré-Vergé, has taken charge of Château Le Gay, and his name appears on the estate's page for the cuvée La Dame de Pomerol. Orion is the estate's cooper. The owner group, Vignobles Parent, comprises Château Le Gay, Château Montviel and La Violette.

• Henri Parent, son of Catherine Péré-Vergé: in charge of the estate
• Orion: the estate's cooper
• Owner group Vignobles Parent: Château Le Gay, Château Montviel and La Violette

The vineyard covers 12 hectares of clay-gravel soil on the Pomerol plateau in a single block, planted to 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, with vines 25 years old. When Catherine Péré-Vergé took over in 2002 she planted 4 hectares of parcels that had been left unplanted. The château and its vineyards sit at the northern end of the appellation, on the Chemin de Chantecaille, among the estates on the periphery of the Pomerol plateau, where the gravel and clay give way to sandier slopes running down to the Barbanne. Vineyard work includes careful separation of the bunches in July, evening out of ripeness at mid-véraison with bunch removal if needed, light leaf removal on one side of the row and then the other, and hand harvesting in 2 passes in early September to separate out millerandé bunches.

• 12 hectares, clay-gravel soil, on the Pomerol plateau in a single block
• 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc; vines 25 years old
• 4 hectares of previously unplanted parcels planted after the 2002 takeover
• Located at the northern end of the appellation on the Chemin de Chantecaille
• Hand harvest in 2 passes in early September to separate millerandé bunches

After the 2002 takeover the estate built a new vat room and barrel cellar and restored the house, designing the cellar around gravity to avoid pumping and handling. The works begun in 2013 under Henri Parent aimed to vinify the first wine of Château Le Gay entirely in barrel: the Vinification Intégrale. The cellar is divided into 3 vinification rooms temperature-controlled by the ambient air. The grapes undergo a pre-fermentation maceration at 6° for 12 days, the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place directly in new barrels, and the wine is then aged for 12 to 16 months in the barrels already used during vinification. Only the second wine, Manoir de Gay, is vinified conventionally, in temperature-controlled concrete vats, also with a cold pre-fermentation phase.

• New vat room and barrel cellar built after 2002; gravity used to avoid pumping
• Since the 2013 works, the first wine is vinified entirely in barrel (Vinification Intégrale)
• 3 vinification rooms temperature-controlled by the ambient air
• Pre-fermentation maceration at 6° for 12 days; alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in new barrels
• Élevage of 12 to 16 months in the barrels used for vinification
• Manoir de Gay is vinified in temperature-controlled concrete vats

Production runs to 28,000 bottles of Château Le Gay, the grand vin, and 20,000 bottles of the second wine, Manoir de Gay. The estate also makes La Dame de Pomerol, a cuvée in homage to Catherine Péré-Vergé. For this cuvée the grapes are destemmed meticulously by hand, and all the barrels come from the heart of a 300-year-old tree from the Tronçais forest, parcel 48 of the Canton du Poteau.

• Château Le Gay: the grand vin, 28,000 bottles
• Manoir de Gay: the second wine, 20,000 bottles
• La Dame de Pomerol: cuvée in homage to Catherine Péré-Vergé, hand-destemmed, with all its barrels from the heart of a single 300-year-old tree from the Tronçais forest

The estate describes the renovated cellar as designed throughout for gentle handling of the grapes and the wine, using gravity to avoid pumping and manipulation. Long cold pre-fermentation macerations extract the tannins over several days, and for Manoir de Gay the cold phase aims, in the estate's words, to extract the fruit as slowly as possible to avoid over-extraction.

• Stated aim: gentle handling of grapes and wine, by gravity
• The estate's stated aim for the cold phase: extract the fruit as slowly as possible to avoid over-extraction

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://chateaulegay.com/notre-histoire/, https://chateaulegay.com/fiche-technique/, https://chateaulegay.com/la-dame-de-pomerol-1-555/. Owner group's site (R10): https://vignoblesparent.com/. Secondary sources: https://www.thewinedoctor.com/bordeaux/legay.shtml, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/chateau-le-gay-in-pomerol-to-be-sold-21395, https://www.thewinedoctor.com/bordeaux/legay_3.shtml. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.