Chateau Gazin Pomerol Bordeaux Wine

Chateau Gazin

Chateau Gazin Pomerol, Bordeaux wine producer profile, with wine tasting notes, wine ratings, a history of the property, information on wine making and terroir, along with wine tasting reviews. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

The logo for Chateau Gazin was inspired by an ancient connection to Knights of the Templars that took place in the formative years of the Pomerol appellation. Not only is the logo for Chateau Gazin old, so is the property. In fact, Chateau Gazin dates all the way back to 1772, when the Pomerol vineyards were purchased by Antoine Feuilhade. Over the years, Chateau Gazin was sold and resold to numerous owners before it was bought by the current owners, the Bailliencourt family in 1946. Also included in that sale was Chateau La Dominique located in St. Emilion. The Bailliencourt family sold Chateau La Dominique in 1969.

The estate’s Bordeaux wine vineyards are large for the Pomerol appellation. They cover a total of 64.2 acres. The vineyards are in one single parcel, which is also unusual for Pomerol, where many of the vineyards consists of non contiguous parcels. The terroir of Gazin is gravel with clay and iron deposits and is situated on the Pomerol plateau.

Chateau Gazin has good neighbors. They share borders with Petrus and L’Evangile! In fact, in 1969, Chateau Gazin sold 12.5 acres to Petrus. While the sale helped the cash starved property cover the tax liens, the loss of those vines reduced the quality and perhaps the quality of Chateau Gazin. Further exacerbating the loss of quality was when the estate switched to machine harvesting in 1979, which was coupled with an increase in yields. Both practices have been discontinued.

The 26.5 hectare vineyard of Chateau Gazin, located in the north east section of the Pomerol plateau is planted to 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard has vines averaging 30 years of age and is planted to a vine density ranging from 5,500 to 6,000 vines per hectare. The terroir has a top soil of sand and gravel with a clay subsoil. In time, the plan is to add more Cabernet Franc and reduce the percentage of Merlot in their Right Bank vineyards.

In 1996 a renovation of the wine making facilities at Chateau Gazin was completed. At Chateau Gazin, the grapes are fermented and vinified in 16, small, cement vats along with a few stainless steel tanks. The wine is aged for 18 months in 40% to 50% new, French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barrels. Chateau Gazin, which is a large estate for Pomerol, on average, produces up to 8,000 cases of wine per vintage. They have a second Pomerol wine l’Hospitalet de Gazin that was created in 1986. The estate of Chateau Gazin is currently managed by Nicolas Bailliencourt.

www.gazin.com