Clos Haut-Peyraguey

Clos Haut-Peyraguey is a Premier Cru Classé estate situated in the Sauternes appellation. It sits at the height of the Bommes plateau and dates back to 1879 when Château Peyraguey was divided into two properties: Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Clos Haut-Peyraguey.

The 12 hectares (30 acres) of vines are located across from the renowned Chateau d'Yquem estate, and nestled between the vineyards of Châteaux de Rayne-Vigneau, Sigalas-Rabaud, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Guiraud and La Tour Blanche. The soils here are gravelly and sandy and are ideally suited to the cultivation of the Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc grape varieties.

Grapes are picked in multiple passes through the vineyard in order to guarantee only perfectly botrytized grapes are selected. In the winery, the grapes are pressed and fermented under temperature-controlled conditions, and aged in varying proportions of new and used oak barrels for roughly 20 months.

Clos Haut-Peyraguey has three wine labels: Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Symphonie de Haut-Peyraguey and Château Haut Bommes. All three Sauternes wines are made from 95 percent Sémillon and 5 percent Sauvignon Blanc. The flagship Premier Grand Cru Classé Cru, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, is produced from 17ha (42 acres) of 40-year-old vines, while the Symphonie de Haut-Peyraguey and Château Haut Bommes are made from 21-ha (52-acre) and 5-ha (12-acre) parcels of 35 to 40-year-old vines respectively.

The Garbay-Pauly family managed the estate from 1914 until 2012 when it was acquired by Bernard Magrez, owner of a portfolio of wine estates including Château Fombrauge in Saint-Emilion, Château Pape Clément in Pessac-Léognan and Château La Tour Carnet in the Haut-Médoc.