Château Carbonneau

Château Carbonneau is located east of the Gironde department, bordered by the towns of Pessac sur Dordogne and Gensac, 25 minutes east of Saint Emilion. The castle was built starting in 1860, on the site of an ancient mansion, by the Bachan family. The construction site was chosen to be located above abundant and shallow groundwater, which provided very pure water to the springs and wells that are still used today. The architecture and orientation of the castle and its annexes were also carefully chosen: a large sunny terrace dominates the park to the south and north. The cellar is half-buried and maintains a constant coolness and temperature in the summer. The Bachan family, having no heirs, sold the property after the First World War. The new owners suffered the repercussions of the Great Depression of 1929 and much of the life vine was uprooted. In 1937, Harold and Claude Ray bought the estate, deciding to return to France from New Zealand, where they had emigrated after the First World War. Their daughter Olga, born in Kaiaua, New Zealand, was only 12 years old. They bought the Carbonneau estate – a property in the birthplace of the families of Yann and Paulette Franc de Ferriere, friends of Harold and Claude – to develop a dairy farm. Harold took great care of the flock, while Claude managed the farm and restored the castle and reintroduced it to the social life of the country. In 1946, Olga Ray married Jean Franc de Ferriere (son of Yann and Paulette), and in 1975, Olga's parents donated them these properties. In 1992, Wilfrid, one of Olga and Jean's five children, took over the estate with his wife Jacquie, to operate it directly. Then the plan to replant the vineyard, modernize the winery and restore the castle to welcome guests began. Since 2016, the Sainte-Foy appellation has been part of the Union des Côtes de Bordeaux. Since the 2019 harvest, Carbonneau is in BIO conversion with the Ecocert agency, and with the 2022 harvest, it will be accredited in Bio Agriculture (AB). Also, in 2021 Chateau Carbonneau began the conversion to biodynamic agriculture not only of the vineyard but of the farm as a whole and will be accredited in Biodynamic Agriculture (Demeter) beginning with the harvest of 2023.