Château Pédesclaux

Château Pédesclaux was established in 1810 by Pierre Urbain Pédesclaux, a wine broker, and his son Urbain took the estate into the 1855 Médoc classification, where it is a Fifth Growth. In 1891 it was sold to the Gastebois family, who renovated the estate. In 1947, facing economic difficulties after the Second World War, the family suspended production, and the estate was later bought by Lucien Jugla, the Gastebois family's long-time estate manager. The property was sold to Jacky Lorenzetti in 2009. As of January 2024, Lorenzetti and his wife Françoise also owned Château Lilian Ladouys and Château Lafon-Rochet in Saint-Estèphe and Château d'Issan in Margaux, held 50/50 with the Cruse family.

• 1810: established by wine broker Pierre Urbain Pédesclaux.
• 1855: ranked a Fifth Growth in the Médoc classification.
• 1891: sold to the Gastebois family; 1947: production suspended, and the estate was later bought by estate manager Lucien Jugla.
• 2009: acquired by the Lorenzetti family.

Jacky and Françoise Lorenzetti are the owners, and their daughter Manon Lorenzetti is an owner in charge of viticulture. Emmanuel Cruse joined the team in 2010 and is General Director; as of November 2022 he was also a director of Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti. Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen is Property Director, Felix Soulagnet is Vineyard Manager and Audrey Ricordi is Cellar Master. Eric Boissenot has been the estate's consultant oenologist since 2013. Manon Lorenzetti's involvement in 2018 helped speed up the transition to more sustainable viticulture.

• Owners: Jacky and Françoise Lorenzetti; Manon Lorenzetti, owner in charge of viticulture.
• General Director: Emmanuel Cruse, with the team since 2010. Property Director: Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen.
• Vineyard Manager: Felix Soulagnet. Cellar Master: Audrey Ricordi. Consultant oenologist: Eric Boissenot, since 2013.

The vineyard covers almost 50 hectares in Pauillac, with 350,000 vines. The soils are deep gravel, blended with clay and limestone in certain places, and in 2011 a study of 100 soil pits across the vineyard identified 19 different types of soil, leading to a restructuring programme to match grape variety to terroir. When the Lorenzetti family bought the estate it had 26 hectares of vines, six of which were immediately replanted. In 2010 Lorenzetti bought 15 hectares of vineyard at Château Haut-Milon, on a plateau behind Lafite and Mouton, and three years later he acquired Château Béhèré, 5 hectares adjacent to Pontet-Canet. As of February 2024, the main concentration of vineyards was around the château, with further vineyards to the north next to Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Clerc Milon, to the south beside Château Lynch-Bages, and in the far west of the appellation, around the village of Artigues, next to vineyards of Château Latour. In 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon made up 46% of the vineyard; it is now 63%, with 27% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

• Almost 50 hectares in Pauillac; 350,000 vines.
• Deep gravel, blended with clay and limestone in places; 19 soil types identified in 2011.
• Expanded from 26 hectares with 15 hectares from Château Haut-Milon (2010) and Château Béhèré (5 hectares, 2013).
• Planted to 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

Organic trials began in 2012 on a 2-hectare parcel, one of the most difficult in terms of disease pressure, and biodynamic trials began in 2015. The organically farmed area reached 7.5 hectares in 2016, 12 hectares in 2017 and 24 hectares in 2018. Official conversion began in 2019, resulting in AB (Organic Agriculture) certification with the 2022 vintage, which carried a new label. The vineyards are farmed organically or, in the case of certain plots, biodynamically. Green manure, a mixture of cereals, legumes and crucifers including faba bean, oats, vetch and mustard, is sown at the end of the summer and rolled into a mulch when it flowers in spring; as of December 2021 it covered more than three quarters of the vineyard. Massal selection helps preserve the genetic diversity of the vineyards.

• 2012: organic trials on a 2-hectare parcel; 2015: biodynamic trials begin.
• 2019: official organic conversion begins; 2022: first organically certified vintage.
• Green manure (more than three quarters of the vineyard as of December 2021); massal selection.

The 100% gravity-fed winery, designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, was completed in 2014: 2,000 square metres of equipment organised on several levels. Each plot is vinified independently in 116 double-height stainless-steel tronconic vats, and a system of four elevated vats moves the wine from one place to the next. The grapes' path through the winery runs from cold maceration and sorting to filling the vats, rack and return, and punching down. In 2020 the harvested grapes were placed in a cold storage room for 24 hours before sorting, and the estate began trialling maturation in earthenware vessels. The 2023 vintage was the tenth produced in the gravity-fed winery.

• Gravity-fed winery by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, completed 2014; 2,000 square metres on several levels.
• 116 double-height stainless-steel tronconic vats; four elevated vats move the wine.
• 2020: trials of maturation in earthenware vessels began.

Château Pédesclaux is the grand vin, from Garonne gravel on a subsoil of limestone. Fleur de Pédesclaux is the second wine and relies on a high proportion of Merlot. In 2023 Cabernet made up 80% of the Château Pédesclaux blend, and Fleur de Pédesclaux 2023 consisted of less than a third Merlot and 14% Petit Verdot. The estate entrusts the distribution of its wine to the Bordeaux négociants.

• Château Pédesclaux: the grand vin.
• Fleur de Pédesclaux: the second wine, with a high proportion of Merlot.
• Sold through the Bordeaux négociants.

At a Decanter vertical tasting of the 2014 to 2022 vintages, held in London in January 2024, the wines 'showed significant improvements in quality, although there is still more work to be done.'

The estate describes the grand vin's recurring scent as 'a blend of blackcurrant, violet and cigar box' and its style as 'both charming and multi-layered.' For Fleur de Pédesclaux it cites 'beautifully calibrated scents of white flowers, violets and small red berries.' Property director Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen called the 2019 'the ideal blend of depth and freshness.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/the-environment/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/the-family/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/the-wines/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/architecture/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/wine/chateau-pedesclaux/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/wine/fleur-de-pedesclaux-2/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/news/the-first-100-gravity-flow-organically-certified-vintage-highlighted-with-a-new-label-design/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/news/2023-now-available/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/news/chateau-pedesclaux-2021-available-en-primeur/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/news/chateau-pedesclaux-2020-is-now-available-en-primeur/, https://www.chateau-pedesclaux.com/en/news/green-fertilizers/. Secondary sources: Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, https://www.bordeaux.com/fr/adresses/chateau-pedesclaux/; Decanter (28 May 2015; 7 November 2022; 28 February 2024), https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/chateau-pedesclaux-68153/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/chateau-pedesclaux-certified-organic-in-long-term-sustainability-plan-490787/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/chateau-pedesclaux-vertical-tasting-of-this-reinvigorated-bordeaux-fifth-growth-523811/; The Drinks Business (Richard Woodard, 31 January 2024), https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/01/sleeping-beauty-the-reawakening-of-pedesclaux/. Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.