Château Croizet-Bages: Vineyards
The Croizet-Bages estate lies on the very edge of the village of Bages, which lies just south of Pauillac. Approaching the town of Pauillac from the south, past Château Batailley on the right, and then Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste on the left, the Croizet-Bages chai is visible on the right-hand side, on the far side of the vines. The walls of the upgraded and modernised cellars bear a large logo, an intertwined C and B for Croizet-Bages, but it does not really stand out. Explore the streets around the cellars, however, and back in 2012 the identity of the proprietor was obvious, as Ch. Croizet-Bages (as pictured further down the page) was written on a above a side door. Of interest to Bordeaux historians, during renovations and the upgrading of the cellars during the 2020s this plaque was removed, revealing the name Bages-Calvé hidden underneath, the proprietors from the 1850s through to the 1930s.
Returning to this road which passes Château Batailley and Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, the vineyards on either side of the road between the latter of these two châteaux and the roundabout at the entrance to the town of Pauillac belong to Château Croizet-Bages. The vineyards therefore lie at the heart of the Bages plateau, alongside notable neighbours such as Château Lynch-Bages. Those on the east side of the road sit partly on Terrace 3 gravels, those on the west side on lighter soils between two mounds of Terrace 3 gravel. The gravels here sit in a seam one metre deep; beneath this there is a bed of sand, the upper layer of which is an ochre sand rich in iron oxide and minerals, a feature of the Bages plateau, and beneath this the sands are white. As noted in my introduction there are 30 hectares of vines in all, which are planted with 58% Cabernet Sauvignon (a figure slightly decreased in recent years), 39% Merlot (bucking the trend, an increase) and 3% Petit Verdot. My records tell me that there used to be Cabernet Franc here too, as much as 8%, but this variety has disappeared from the vineyard.
