Château Fonbadet: Vineyards
Château Fonbadet itself sits directly on the D2 as it runs north through the Pauillac appellation, sandwiched between the hamlets of Daubos and St Lambert. This places it close to the châteaux and vineyards of Latour, Pichon Comtesse and Pichon Baron (the latter can be seen in the distance in the image below), all of which sit just to the south, the three vineyards creating a huge sweep of vines running east-west within the appellation. The château and cellars of Fonbadet are located within the patchwork quilt of vines just to the north of this great vineyard; a few parcels belong to Fonbadet, but a number belong to Haut-Bages-Libéral, Haut-Batailley and the like.
These parcels close to the château are just one small part of the vineyard, which today accounts for 11.5 hectares of the Pauillac appellation, a significant decline from the 20 hectares that were farmed a few years ago. As noted in my history of the property, Pascale Peyronie was obligated to sell 8 hectares of vines in order to buy her siblings out of the business. These parcels around the château account for 1.5 hectares (down from about 4 hectares). The remainder, about 10 hectares (down from about 13 hectares), are located in the north of the appellation on the Pouyalet plateau close to the vineyards of Château Mouton-Rothschild. In addition there used to be a third parcel, about 3 hectares, that was located close to Lynch-Bages, but this was included in the vineyard sell-off back in 2020. Today Fonbadet comprises just the two parcels described above.
The vines sit at a heady altitude, rising to between 14 and 22 metres above sea level. The château and southern portion of the vineyard rest on soils of clay and limestone, soils on the edge of a croupe of Terrace 3 gravel, while those close to Château Mouton-Rothschild are more certainly rooted in Terrace 3 gravel.
