Château Pibran: Vineyards
Château Pibran is located roughly west of the town of Pauillac itself, close to the Chenal du Gaet, one of the more significant drainage channels that criss-cross the Médoc. The channel runs down to the east, and empties into the Gironde, at the northern end of the town. It divides the vineyards of Pauillac in two, with the Bages plateau to the south, and the vineyards of Le Pouyalet and Milon to the north. Château Pibran lies just on the northern side. The most significant of its neighbours is Château Pontet-Canet, which lies about 600 metres to the northwest. The vineyards on the other side of the Chenal du Gaet belong to Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste.
The only physical evidence of the existence of the estate is the presence of a rather understated, single-storey château which overlooks the vines. This dates from the end of the 19th century, when the estate was created by Ardilley. The soils underfoot are typical of the region, the vineyards lying on a series of minor gravelly undulations in the landscape. When the estate was acquired by AXA Millésimes in 1987 there were 10 hectares, although it has since been expanded to 17 hectares, the lands having been augmented by the purchase of the neighbouring Château La Tour Pibran in 2001. This estate, like Pibran, had seen hard times; it too had once been in the ownership of the Ardilley family (it may be that it and Pibran were once one estate) but the buildings had been destroyed by fire in 1870. In 1940 the proprietor left for Australia, and the estate was bought by a man named Gounel, who ultimately sold to AXA Millésimes in 2001.
