Despite its proximity, this was a region that we had never visited
before. Over the last century the district had become industrialised
leaving only a scattering of large bourgeois homes that had been very
prestigeous in the nineteenth century.
Lynch was first a Bonapartist and was at the head of the Bordeaux
delegation to the christening of the King of Rome, Marie Louise's and
Napoleon's son. After Napoleon's defeat, Lynch quickly became a
royalist, but when Napoleon returned from the Island of Elbe and
realised that his good friend had betrayed him, he issued orders for
Lynch's capture and condemned him to death.
Fortunately Lynch fled, Napoleon's comeback was short-lived and once
the British sent Napoleon to St Helène, Jean Baptist Lynch came out of
hiding. Louis XVIII sunsequently named him Count and Lord of France. It was probably Victor Louis, the French architect, who built Château Sainte Barbe. The house is located on the banks of the Garonne with magnificent views over the river. The house is built above the cellars which are on the ground floor where the wine barrels were stored. They could be rolled out by hand to the river bank to be loaded onto vessels bound for England and Northern Europe.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Château Sainte Barbe was part of the Apellation de Montferrand known as "Les Palus de Montferrand". These wines were highly appreciated and traditionally ranked between the 3rd and 4th Cru of the Medoc, and better known than Saint Emilion's wines at the time.
The vineyard became very profitable at the end of the 19th century during the phylloxera plague which destroyed much of Bordeaux's vineyards at the time. One of the early solutions found for the plague was to flood the vineyard for 4 to 6 weeks each winter. The situation of Sainte Barbe so close to the river made it an easy solution.
After Mr Lynch's death, the estate remained in the same family for more than 150 years until we acquired it in 1999.
The first time that we visited Sainte Barbe was in April 1999. The previous three years had been spent looking at vineyards for sale around the Bordeaux region. We were even tempted to look as far away as Chile but some good friends advised us the challenges were already great, without the additional difficulties of a new culture and language 10.000km from home.
Most of the places that we visited before finding Sainte Barbe were too small, with the vineyards surrounded by other vineyards, not enough land etc. At Sainte Barbe, this was not an issue. 30 hectares of vineyard along the river plus another 100 hectares of land (meadows, forest, marshes) .
Sainte Barbe is situated on the peninsular of Ambès 20 kms from Bordeaux. Despite its proximity, this was a region that we had never visited before. Over the last century the district had become industrialised leaving only a scattering of large bourgeois homes that had been very prestigeous in the nineteenth century.
But everything was in a terrible state - the vineyard was completely run down and the grapes had not been harvested for the last few years. The main house and buildings were in an incredible state of delapidation, almost abandoned, yet the owners, a very elderly couple, continued living there despite being unable to continue the upkeep of the property.
After much discussion, we decided to go ahead: the potential of the vineyard could be realised with new drainage, good husbandry and lots and lots of work. In time, we could bring Sainte Barbe back to life.
Antoine & Lucy Touton
THE VINEYARD :
The Sainte Barbe vineyards currently cover 30 hectares of gravelly, alluvial soils on the right bank of the Garonne, some 20km north of Bordeaux. The majority of the vineyards have been replanted since we acquired the estate in 1999.
80% of the vineyard is made up of Merlot, with the remaining 20% divided between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Plantation densities vary from 4500 to 5500 vines per hectare depending on the characteristics of the soil. The choice of rootstock (Riparia 101.14-3309) and quality clones (Merlot clones 181-343-347) was made specifically taking into account the soils of Sainte Barbe.
Strict control of the vineyards is the key to producing high quality fruit: Key jobs at Sainte Barbe are ensuring adequate drainage, planting grasses between the rows of vines for soil balance and to absorb excess humidity, ensuring the maximum leaf canopy for perfect ripening and strictly controlling yields. Different parcels are cropped at different levels according to the wine to be produced, with as little as 15 hectolitres per hectare (500g per plant) for our top selection.
The grapes are picked by hand and machine after previously going through the vineyards to remove any grapes that do not reach our quality requirements. Once in the cellar, a further selection is made using sorting tables.
Our Wine Consultant is Mr.
Alain RAYNAULT. (owner of
Château Quinault l’Enclos).
All Wines 
