Château Rieussec
Sauternes is one of the most influential and historically significant wine regions in the world. It can be said that almost everyone who makes wine from noble grapes in different parts of the world is inspired by the wines produced in the Sauternes region, which mature nicely in the cellar for decades. Baron Eric de Rothschild, who owned Château Lafite Rothschild, was so impressed by the wines of the region that in 1984 he decided to buy himself a farm in the region, and thus Château Rieussec ended up in the portfolio of Domaines Barons de Rothschild.
In the 18th century, Rieussec belonged to the Carmelite monks of Langon village. However, at the time of the French Revolution, it was taken over and sold to the Marhelhac family of farm owners based in Pessac-Léognan. In connection with the Paris World Exhibition of 1855, the estate was classified among the first estates of Sauternes and Barsac, and over the course of more than a hundred years, it changed owners several times, finally ending up in the Rothschild family.
68 hectares of the up to 110 hectares of land are fully planted with vines. The shelters are located in the area of the villages of Fargues, Sauternes and Barsac on gravel and sandy clay soil. 90% of the vines are Sémillon, 7% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Muscade. Very thorough garden work is followed by gradual harvesting, which requires several visits to the garden, lasting six to eight weeks. One vine only produces about one glass of wine!
After careful selection of the grapes, the wines are allowed to mature slowly in oak barrels in the cool conditions of the cellars. Each plot is vinified separately, and the final wines are divided according to their palatable quality. The barrels are made by Domaines Barons de Rothschild themselves, and half of them are renewed every year. Built in 1989, the premises of the Rieussec winery were renovated again in 2000, thanks to which the grapes are received, pressed, fermented and matured each in its own logically repeating part of the cellars. The wines are allowed to mature for 16-26 months before bottling on the farm. In the bottles, the wines continue to live as long as the patience of their owners can bear them.
The international media has noticed the farm's year-by-year improvement quality on several occasions, and already twenty years ago, Château Rieussec 2001 received the Wine of the Year title in the 2004 Wine Spectator publication.
The farm's total annual production is around 140,000 bottles.
https://www.lafite.com/en/the-chateaus/chateau-rieussec/
