Château La Garde

Located in Pessac-Lèognan, Château La Garde is a 55-hectare property producing both white and red wines. It has had a long history dating back to the 18th century and was featured on the general map of France drawn up by the Cassini family in 1756. La Garde’s winery was built in 1881. From 1926 until 1990, the négociant Eschenauer owned the property along with Smith Haut Lafitte and Rauzan-Ségla. The wine was made 'traditionally' for the time, meaning no selection, no temperature-control and no new wood for ageing. In 1990, Dourthe-Kressman, another négociant bought the estate, and it was given a face lift that it very much needed. Michel Rolland currently consults for the red and Christophe Ollivier for the white. The wines are now made quite differently with cold soaks under dry ice, micro-oxygenation during fermentation and ageing in 35% new oak for the red. The white is unusual in that it has a high proportion of Sauvignon Gris in it (50%), a variety that is known as perhaps more rich and unctuous than Sauvignon Blanc with a bit more presence too.