Château Rauzan-Gassies

The noble house of Gassies, a fiefdom of the lordship of Margaux, had its origins in the 14th century. Pierre Desmezures de Rauzan, bringing expertise acquired at Château Latour, created the Domaine de Rauzan in the mid 1600s. The estate tells how a severe hailstorm destroyed vineyards across the Margaux region but spared the chevalier de Rauzan's vines, and how a rumour spread that birds had protected the clusters with their wings over the Gassies locality; all the château's labels still display a winged coat of arms in memory of the story. In 1763 the Domaine de Rauzan was divided into two parts for inheritance reasons, and Château Rauzan-Gassies emerged and made its first wines. Decanter's account has the Rauzan estate shared between two sons-in-law, the smaller portion going to Seigneur de Gassies, and credits a later owner, M Rhoné-Péraire, with much improvement of the vineyard. The château was elevated to Second Growth (Deuxième Grand Cru) in the 1855 classification, and the estate's history calls it 'the prime of the Second Growths in the Margaux and Cantenac parishes.' The Quié family's wine holdings began in 1936, when Paul Quié acquired Château Bel Orme Tronquoy-de-Lalande in the Haut-Médoc; Château Croizet-Bages followed in 1942 and Château Rauzan-Gassies in 1946, when the Paris wine merchant became its proprietor. In 1968 Paul's son Jean-Michel took over the management of the three family châteaux and led a vast renovation and modernisation programme, including modernisation of the vinification building and complete replanting of the vineyard. In 2000 his children Anne-Françoise and Jean-Philippe joined the family's wine estates. In 2012 Château Rauzan-Gassies acquired Château Bel Orme Tronquoy-de-Lalande in Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, extending its vineyard into the Haut-Médoc appellation.

• 14th century: origins of the noble house of Gassies, a fiefdom of the lordship of Margaux.
• 1763: the Domaine de Rauzan was divided into two parts for inheritance reasons, and Château Rauzan-Gassies emerged.
• 1855: classified a Second Growth (Deuxième Grand Cru).
• 1946: Paul Quié became proprietor; 1968: Jean-Michel Quié took over management; 2000: Anne-Françoise and Jean-Philippe Quié joined.
• 2012: acquisition of Château Bel Orme Tronquoy-de-Lalande in Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, extending the vineyard into the Haut-Médoc.

The twins Anne-Françoise and Jean-Philippe Quié co-manage all the family's properties: Jean-Philippe is Technical Manager, and Anne-Françoise is Sales Manager, in charge of distribution. Their elder brother Paul-Henri, an architect by training, works alongside them. Besides Château Rauzan-Gassies, the family's properties are Château Bel Orme Tronquoy-de-Lalande and Château Croizet-Bages.

• Owners: the Quié family, since 1946.
• Technical Manager: Jean-Philippe Quié. Sales Manager, in charge of distribution: Anne-Françoise Quié.
• Sister properties: Château Bel Orme Tronquoy-de-Lalande and Château Croizet-Bages.

The Margaux vineyard covers 30 hectares, of which 28 hectares are producing vines. Already planted with vines at the time of the 1855 classification, it is divided between two hillsides that the estate calls the two most beautiful and famous of the Margaux appellation. The soils are a deep substratum of Garonne gravel and gravelly sandy soils, which favour natural drainage. The vineyard is planted to 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, with an average vine age of 35 years, a density of 10,000 vines per hectare and an average yield of 40 hectolitres per hectare; each vine was planted by a member of the Quié family. Each parcel receives soil work adapted to its soil, age, grape variety and rootstock. Vineyard practice combines mechanical soil cultivation or grass between the rows, Poussard pruning, removal of the laterals, manual repositioning of the clusters and leaf thinning before the manual harvest.

• 30 hectares in Margaux, 28 hectares of producing vines, divided between two hillsides of the appellation.
• Deep Garonne gravel and gravelly sandy soils with natural drainage.
• 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot; average vine age 35 years; 10,000 vines per hectare; average yield 40 hectolitres per hectare.
• Poussard pruning and a manual harvest.

The vineyard lies within the Parc naturel régional du Médoc, and the estate is a signatory of the Natura 2000 Charter. The château holds as many forests, meadows and marshes as it does vineyards, and some of these natural areas are part of the Natura 2000 site. The forests and the hedges planted along the plot borders provide habitat for wildlife. The meadows are entrusted to a breeder of Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle, whose herd provides natural manure for the vineyard, and the Médoc marshes still regulate the water drainage of the vineyard soils.

• Within the Parc naturel régional du Médoc; signatory of the Natura 2000 Charter.
• As many forests, meadows and marshes as vineyards.
• Meadows grazed by a breeder's Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle, which provide natural manure for the vineyard.

Merlot is harvested relatively early and Petit Verdot next, while Cabernet Sauvignon, which takes longer to mature fully, is waited on. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats of 12 to 120 hectolitres, sized for plot-by-plot selection, at temperatures of 26 to 28°C with two to three pump-overs a day; malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels and stainless steel vats. The grand vin is aged in French oak barrels for 12 to 14 months. Production of the grand vin is around 70,000 bottles.

• Harvest order: Merlot relatively early, then Petit Verdot, with Cabernet Sauvignon waited on.
• Stainless steel vats of 12 to 120 hectolitres for plot-by-plot selection; fermentation at 26 to 28°C.
• Malolactic fermentation in barrels and stainless steel vats.
• Grand vin aged in French oak barrels for 12 to 14 months; around 70,000 bottles.

Château Rauzan-Gassies, the grand vin, results from a selection of land parcels, and the estate gives Cabernet Sauvignon, the vineyard's predominant variety, as at least three-quarters of its final blend. Since the 2009 vintage the second wine has been called Gassies, in memory of the vineyard's medieval history; it comes mainly from the estate's young vines, intended to produce the first wine in years to come, its blend varies with the latest plantings and the vintage, and production is around 36,000 bottles. L'Orme de Rauzan-Gassies comes from the estate's 30 hectares in the Haut-Médoc appellation in the village of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, a vineyard held by the Quié family for nearly 90 years. The vineyard is planted to 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot takes precedence over Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend; the wine is fermented in concrete vats and aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, with around 70,000 bottles produced.

• Château Rauzan-Gassies: the grand vin, Margaux, Second Growth of 1855; around 70,000 bottles.
• Gassies: the second wine, so named from the 2009 vintage, mainly from young vines; around 36,000 bottles.
• L'Orme de Rauzan-Gassies: Haut-Médoc from Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, planted to 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon; around 70,000 bottles.

Château Rauzan-Gassies calls its wines 'elegant, delicate and precise, with an intense colour and velvety texture,' and writes that Merlot 'brings roundness and freshness to the wine with crunchy, delicious fruit.' The estate presents Gassies as 'a true Margaux with velvety tannins as a signature of its noble origins' and L'Orme de Rauzan-Gassies as 'round and savoury, with soft tannins and a beautiful aromatic length.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.domaines-quie.com/rauzan-gassies/?lang=en, https://www.domaines-quie.com/la-famille/?lang=en, https://www.domaines-quie.com/vin-chateau-rauzan-gassies/?lang=en, https://www.domaines-quie.com/gassies-de-rauzan-gassies/?lang=en, https://www.domaines-quie.com/lorme-de-rauzan-gassies/?lang=en. Secondary source: Decanter (Decanter Staff, last updated 28 May 2015), https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/chateau-rauzan-gassies-68604/. Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.