Château Malartic-Lagravière

The property began as the Domaine de Lagravière and was purchased at the end of the 18th century by Count Hippolyte de Maurès de Malartic, who came from a very old Armagnac noble family and fought as an admiral. In 1850 Madame Arnaud Ricard bought the estate and added the name Malartic to that of Lagravière in homage to the former owners; she built the house that forms the current left wing of the château, and the estate remained in her family for 140 years. In 1947 Jacques Marly took over management after marrying Madame Ricard's great-great-granddaughter, and he managed the estate until 1990, including during the 1953 Graves classification. Champagne Laurent-Perrier acquired the estate in 1990 and created a second wine, originally named Le Sillage de Malartic. Alfred-Alexandre and Michèle Bonnie then purchased the property: the estate's family page dates the purchase to the end of 1996, while its history page and Decanter give 1997. The couple built a new winery, restored the château, and bought former plots of vines, giving the vineyard its current size. Their son Jean-Jacques and his wife Séverine joined them in 2003, and their daughter Véronique in 2006. At the end of 2005 Vignobles Malartic expanded with the acquisition of the neighbouring Château Gazin-Rocquencourt and the bodega DiamAndes in Argentina, forming 200 hectares of vines on either side of the Atlantic. 2019 marked a new generation: Véronique and Jean-Jacques Bonnie are co-owners of the family's vineyards.

• Purchased at the end of the 18th century by Count Hippolyte de Maurès de Malartic
• Renamed Malartic-Lagravière by Madame Arnaud Ricard, who bought it in 1850
• Managed by Jacques Marly from 1947 until 1990
• Owned by Champagne Laurent-Perrier from 1990, then purchased by Alfred-Alexandre and Michèle Bonnie at the end of 1996 or in 1997
• Véronique and Jean-Jacques Bonnie are co-owners of the family's vineyards

Véronique Bonnie is President of Vignobles Malartic and co-manages the family estates with her brother Jean-Jacques Bonnie, General Manager. Jean-Jacques Bonnie, who arrived in Bordeaux in 2003, is in charge of Malartic's wine production and sales policy, and has been co-manager and Managing Director of Vignobles Malartic with his sister since 2019. Séverine Bonnie is Director of Communication, Marketing and Hospitality and is in charge of the image of the three properties. Cécile Bernier is technical director and joined Malartic in 2020. Benoît Prévoteau is vineyard technical manager; he joined Malartic in 2000 as a vineyard worker. Paul Gazeaud is Sales Director, having arrived at Malartic in October 2024. Since 2019 Jean-Jacques Bonnie and his team have worked with the advice of Eric Boissenot. Michel Rolland was the estate's consultant from 1998 (as of 2017).

• Véronique Bonnie: President of Vignobles Malartic
• Jean-Jacques Bonnie: General Manager; co-manager and Managing Director since 2019
• Séverine Bonnie: Director of Communication, Marketing and Hospitality
• Cécile Bernier: technical director (joined 2020)
• Benoît Prévoteau: vineyard technical manager (joined 2000)
• Paul Gazeaud: Sales Director (arrived October 2024)
• Eric Boissenot: adviser since 2019

The vineyard consists of 73 hectares (180 acres) of vines, including 7 hectares (17 acres) for the white wines. Red plantings are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; the white wine comes from Sauvignon and Sémillon. The estate sits on a high terrace deeply scored by the Eau Blanche river and its tributaries, with most plots on the upper Gunzian terrace, and its gravel reaches a depth of around eight metres. Protected by the pine trees of the Landes forest, the vineyard is dominated by fine gravel mixed with shell limestone and clay. Vineyard work is carried out by hand and adapted to each plot, and only organic fertilizers are used, sparingly. Horse-drawn ploughing began at the estate in 2017, and the two Percherons Hali and Goliath arrived in December 2019; around twenty Landes ewes have grazed between the rows since March 2022. The estate has planted 500 trees and 10,000 shrubs making up 5 kilometres of hedges. The entire vineyard has held Sustainable Agriculture certification since 2008 and High Environmental Value since 2015, with Option A (individual) since 2021, alongside ISO 14001.

• 73 hectares (180 acres) of vines, 7 hectares (17 acres) of them for white wine
• Most plots on the upper Gunzian terrace; gravel around eight metres deep over shell limestone and clay
• Horse ploughing since 2017; Landes ewes grazing the vineyard since March 2022
• Sustainable Agriculture certified since 2008; High Environmental Value since 2015

Grapes are picked by hand from the end of August to mid-October, placed in small crates, chilled, sorted, and transferred by gravity into the vats; sorting is optical. The winery, designed by architect Bernard Mazières and built on the hillside so grapes move by gravity, received its first harvest in 1998. The winery covers 4,400m2, Michel Rolland gave input on its design, and ten wooden vats were added in 2001. Maceration times are short, and alcoholic and malolactic fermentation take place in vats before the wine moves to barrel. Blending is carried out early, in the year following the harvest. The grand vin is aged for 18 months in barrels that are approximately 60% new wood, in a cellar of 1200 barrels; a smaller cellar of 200 barrels is reserved for the white wines, using Bordeaux, Burgundy and 500 litre casks.

• Hand harvest, optical sorting, and gravity transfer into vats
• Winery by architect Bernard Mazières; first harvest in 1998
• Grand vin: 18 months in barrels of approximately 60% new wood
• White wines aged in Bordeaux barrels, Burgundy barrels and 500 litre casks

The estate makes a red and a white Château Malartic-Lagravière, the grand vin, classified as a Grand Cru Classé de Graves. The 2023 red is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, and the 2023 white is 76% Sauvignon and 24% Sémillon. The second wines, Le Comte de Malartic in red and white, were called La Réserve de Malartic until 2019 and have carried the new name from the 2019 vintage. Le Comte de Malartic red is made predominantly with Merlot (2023: 77% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc), and the white predominantly with Sauvignon (2023: 66% Sauvignon, 34% Sémillon). Vignobles Malartic also owns Château Gazin Rocquencourt, a 30-hectare Pessac-Léognan property with 22 hectares of vines cared for by the Malartic-Lagravière teams, and Bodega DiamAndes, 130 hectares of vines in the Clos de los Siete in Mendoza's Uco Valley, with a gravity-operated winery at an altitude of 1,000 metres.

• Château Malartic-Lagravière red and white: the grand vin
• Le Comte de Malartic red and white: second wines, named La Réserve de Malartic until 2019
• Le Sillage de Malartic: the original name of the second wine
• Sister properties: Château Gazin Rocquencourt (Pessac-Léognan) and Bodega DiamAndes (Uco Valley, Argentina)

The estate describes its red wines as having "a dense, juicy attack, a velvety, silky mouthfeel and superb balance," and its whites as "historically known as great wines for laying down, which develop a complex aromatic palette and superb minerality over the years." Jean-Jacques Bonnie sums up the aim: "Our great wine reflects the complexity of its terroir. A unique expression that is our signature." The house philosophy rests on ripe, fresh fruit, short macerations, gentle extractions, rigorous selection of the press wines, and early blending. Writing in Decanter in 2017, Jane Anson judged that "a step-change came sometime between 2005 and 2008, with a rise in precision and confidence."

• Estate's description of the reds: dense, juicy attack; velvety, silky mouthfeel
• Estate's description of the whites: wines for laying down that gain minerality with age
• Jane Anson (Decanter, 2017): a step-change between 2005 and 2008

Malartic-Lagravière is classified for both its red and its white wine in the Graves classification, whose first official list the INAO published in 1953; estates on the list use the title Grand Cru Classé de Graves. The château is at 43 Avenue de Mont de Marsan in Léognan, within the Pessac-Léognan appellation created in 1987. Visits are by appointment, Monday to Saturday.

• Grand Cru Classé de Graves for red and white
• Pessac-Léognan appellation, commune of Léognan
• Visits by appointment, Monday to Saturday

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/the-story/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/the-story/the-bonnie-family/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/the-terroir/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/the-terroir/the-vineyard/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/the-terroir/the-environment/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/a-craft-or-form-of-expertise/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/a-craft-or-form-of-expertise/our-philosophy/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/a-craft-or-form-of-expertise/vinification-and-maturation/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-chateau/a-craft-or-form-of-expertise/the-harvests/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/chateau-malartic-lagraviere/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/chateau-malartic-lagraviere/red-malartic/malartic-lagraviere-2023-red/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/chateau-malartic-lagraviere/malartic-white/malartic-lagraviere-2023-white/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/le-comte-de-malartic/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/le-comte-de-malartic/le-comte-de-malartic-la-reserve-rouge/le-comte-de-malartic-2023-red/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-wines/le-comte-de-malartic/le-comte-de-malartic-la-reserve-blanc/le-comte-de-malartic-2023-white/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/our-other-properties/, https://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/en/tours-tasting/. Secondary sources: https://www.bordeaux.com/us/Our-Terroir/Classifications/Crus-Classes-de-Graves, https://www.decanter.com/features/producer-profile-chateau-malartic-lagraviere-245527/. Last verified 2026-10-12.