Chateau La Vieille Cure

Château La Vieille Cure is a Bordeaux estate in the eastern Fronsac appellation. It makes a Merlot-dominant grand vin and second wine, blended with Cabernet Franc and small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon. The château dates back to the 18th Century – it features on a prominent map of the region made in 1780. Wine production on the property has an even longer history with 17th Century parish records mentioning vineyards there.

The estate took its modern form when it was bought by Americans Peter Sachs and Colin Ferenbach in 1986. The duo built a new winery, replanted vines and enacted extensive renovations. La Vieille Cure stopped selling a portion of its wine in bulk to be sold under other labels and began exclusively estate bottling. Since the 1980s the wine went from being primarily sold regionally in Fronsac, to distribution in more than 25 countries.

The vineyard covers 20 hectares (50 acres) and, uncommonly for Bordeaux, is a single large plot. It is planted on a limestone plateau above the Dordogne river near Libourne. The landscape includes southwest exposed hills of chalk and clay sub-soils. The grapes are mechanically destemmed, hand-sorted, with maceration lasting three to four weeks. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, while malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel.