Chateau Lagrezette

Château Lagrézette is a wine estate located in Cahors, in southwest France. The estate is best known for its Malbec, which has been a staple of the château's vineyards since the 1400s. Today, Château Lagrézette comprises an area of 90 hectares (222 acres) planted to 83 percent Malbec, with some Merlot and a tiny amount of Tannat. The estate's grand vin reflects these proportions.

The 15th century château sits on the foundations of a medieval fortress and takes its name from the "petite grèze" hill on which it is built. Marguerite de Massaut, Dame Honneur, became the first female proprietor of the estate in the 16th Century. Today, her name lives on in the Château Lagrézette Cuvée Dame Honneur, a blend of 91 percent Malbec and 9 percent Merlot created in her honor.

In 1979, Alain Dominique Perrin acquired Château Lagrézette and initiated an extensive program of restoration and redevelopment in the abandoned vineyards and of the dilapidated château. A decade later Michel Rolland came on board as consultant oenologist.

The most prestigious of the château's vineyards is its 3-ha (7-acre) Pigeonnier vineyard, planted entirely to Malbec on limestone-clay soils. This parcel takes its name from its 17th Century pigeon loft and is the source of the Le Pigeonnier wine, a varietal Malbec. This wine ages for 28 months in new French oak barriques and, since the first vintage in 1997, around 6500 bottles of Le Pigeonnier have been produced per year.