Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey: Vineyards
Starting with the vineyard, this accounts for about 36 of the estate’s 47.5 hectares, scattered widely across Bommes, Sauternes, Preignac and Fargues, four of the five communes which comprise the Sauternes appellation (the fifth being Barsac of course). There are three main plots, the first an 11-hectare vineyard lying directly behind and around the château and contiguous with the vineyards of Château Sigalas-Rabaud. The second is a 5-hectare plot lying at a slightly higher elevation, and adjacent to the vines of the Lafaurie sibling, Clos Haut-Peyraguey. The third significant plot is also 5 hectares in size, and lies closer to Château Guiraud. The remaining plots are much smaller than these first three, and include 0.5 hectares near Château Rieussec and several tiny parcels sandwiched between Château d’Yquem and Château Suduiraut.
There have been few changes in the make-up of Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey along the way, but one notable acquisition was a vineyard which was originally part of Château d’Arche, but which had been cleaved off following the Revolution, only coming into the hands of the Cordiers two hundred years later, in the early 1980s. This was a portion of the d’Arche vineyard named Vimeney (widely known as d’Arche-Vimeney) originally acquired by a Monsieur Comet and not, as some mistakenly believe, the part once owned by Pierre Lafaurie (known as d’Arche-Lafaurie) who was once also part-owner of Château d’Arche (although if it had been that would have conveniently wrapped up a few loose ends).
Under Silvio Denz it seemed clear that we could expect a restructuring of the Lafaurie-Peyraguey vineyard, and that is indeed what we have seen, although happily the anticipated fire-sale of lesser quality plots never materialised. Today there is more of a focus on quality through selection, with only half of the vineyard dedicated to the grand vin, including central parcels around the château named Enclos and Maison Rouge The other half is channelled into a second wine, while the most low-lying 5-hectare parcel is utilised in the production of a dry white wine, one which had previously been discontinued but which has been reintroduced during the Denz era.
