Geographical location

Sharing the unique terroir of the best Saint-Emilion crus classés, Château Sansonnet is located to the North East of the medieval village, on the highest point of the limestone clay plateau.

The property extends over 7 hectares in a single block of land surrounding the château itself.

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History

In the 18th Century Château Sansonnet was the property of the Duke Decazes, Prime Minister under the reign of Louis XVIII. The historic home, restored, furnished and redecorated now welcomes private and business guests in an elegant, typical Saint-Emilion, setting.

Passionate about wine

With her PhD in Pharmacy, Marie-Bénédicte Lefévère, took over the management of the estate in 2009. It was as a child in the cellars of family properties in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, that she was first exposed to the wine culture that was to become her passion.

With high ambitions for her wine production and a love of the estate, Marie-Bénédicte is intent on restoring Sansonnet to its rightful top wine status.

Vineyards & Grape Varieties

Château Sansonnet has 7 hectares of vineyards. The 85% majority Merlot is blended with Cabernet Franc, but we have been steadily increasing plantings of the latter.

In our quest for superlative quality, we are working towards a gradual transformation of the vineyard, focusing particularly on complantation work, i.e. planting different grape varieties in a specific soil type, on raising the height of the vine training and on meticulously adapting vineyard work according to the evolution and behavior of the vines.

Vineyard Work & Harvesting

The vines are given the constant care they require to produce high quality grapes: de-budding, manual leaf striping in two stages, thinning out the vine and yield control. It is therefore only natural that Château Sansonnet's grape harvest is then carried our entirely by hand.

We first sort the grape clusters, we then sort the grape berries.

Invaluable experience of the terroir

Dominique Bordeneuve is a real winemaker who has been working in the vineyards since a young age. He has acquired vast experience in all areas of viticultural work. With more than 20 years experience at Château Sansonnet, the estate can rely on his unique knowledge of its terroir and the make up of its plots.

Along with the other team members, he is closely involved in all endeavors to make Château Sansonnet a fine wine amongst the very finest.

Facilities

In order to restore Château Sansonnet wines to a level of quality and refinement worthy of their terroir, all the buildings, including the vat house and the barrel cellars, have recently undergone complete renovation.

The vat house is now fitted out with small tronconic stainless steel vats with thermo-regulated double walls to enable the vinification of grapes from separate parcels. The use of two sorting tables, one of which vibrates, enables the grapes to be meticulously sorted when they come in from harvesting.

Our ageing cellars are air conditioned and their hydrometry is carefully controlled.

Vinification

Our vinification equipment is entire suitable for the geography of our vineyards. Straight after harvesting, a proportion of the grapes will undergo pre-fermentation cold maceration; these are kept at 5°C for 6 days. During alcohol fermentation, the temperature of the vats is rigorously controlled. A rail-mounted automatic punch-down fermenter optimizes extraction. This is then followed by hot maceration.

Malolactic fermentations take place in casks of French oak in which the wine will then age for 12 to 18 months. This fully custom made vinification is orchestrated by our œnologist, Jean-Philippe Fort, from the Michel Roland Practice!

In search of cutting edge technology

Jean Trias has been immersed in the world of wine since a young age because his parents, who were in the restaurant business, introduced him to, and taught him to appreciate, top Bordeaux wines. Fascinated by the creation of these delicious nectars, Jean obtained a diploma in viticulture & œnology and went on to hold important positions at a number of wine estates.

He arrived at Château Sansonnet in 2000. He enjoys a challenge and is delighted to take up that of returning the wine of Château Sansonnet to its highest quality.