Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey – A jewel of the Sauternes region with four hundred years of history

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, situated in the commune of Bommes, is one of the most prestigious estates in the Sauternes appellation. Its history began in 1618, when Raymond Peyraguey – after whom the estate is named – acquired a large tract of land and, convinced of the terroir’s exceptional potential, set about cultivating vines in a targeted manner. The oldest walls of the estate – the gateway and the towers of the defensive wall – date back as far as the 13th century and constitute the oldest masonry in the municipality.

A key milestone came in 1742, when Baron Nicolas Pierre de Pichard, royal adviser and President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, acquired the estate. De Pichard, who at that time also owned the legendary Château Lafite, expanded the vineyard to nearly 30 hectares. His wines fetched top prices and even found their way to Thomas Jefferson when he travelled through Bordeaux in 1788. Following the French Revolution, which cost de Pichard his life in 1794, the estate passed into the ownership of a citizen named Lafaurie in 1796 – the birth of its current name.

The outstanding quality of the wines was officially recognised as early as the historic classification of 1855: Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey was awarded the status of Premier Grand Cru Classé of Sauternes . It is the first Grand Cru Classé of Sauternes and ranks amongst the most renowned names in this iconic sweet wine appellation. Following a series of changes in ownership – including the Cordier family from 1917 – Silvio Denz took over the estate in 2014.

Today, the vineyard covers 18 hectares in the heart of the appellation. The vines, mainly Sémillon with a proportion of Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, grow on a gravel terrace at an altitude of 70 metres. The subsoil, consisting of Quaternary gravel and Aquitaine limestone , creates ideal conditions for the development of the noble rot fungus Botrytis cinerea, which is indispensable for the region’s great sweet wines . Under the leadership of Silvio Denz, this centuries-old heritage is being combined with modernisation. Since the 2013 vintage, an engraving by René Lalique has adorned the bottles. Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey remains a shining example of the art of great Sauternes – rich, complex and of timeless elegance.