Chateau Bouscaut Pessac Leognan Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Bouscaut, Pessac Leognan with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn the best vintages, a history of the property, information on the vineyards and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Bouscaut History, Overview

The vineyards of of what we know of as Chateau Bouscaut have existed since the 16th century. So you can see, the estate has a long history. During its formative years, the property was known as Haut Truchon. In 1929, the name was changed to Chateau Bouscaut.

In 1960, a fire destroyed the original chateau of Bouscaut. All that remained from the original structure of Chateau Bouscaut were the cellars.

Victor Place, the dedicated owner rebuilt the entire chateau to the exact original specifications. That was an amazing labor of love, especially when you consider that this took place during difficult economic times. In 1968, Victor Place sold Chateau Bouscaut to a group of investors from New York, who went under the name of Domaine Wohlstetter Sloan.

The new owners, who were not living in Pessac Leognan at the time, made a smart decision and hired the managers of Chateau Haut Brion, led by Jean Bernard Delmas, to help run Chateau Bouscaut. Lucien Lurton, a well known Bordeaux vigneron who already owned at least ten other Bordeaux estates bought Chateau Bouscat in 1979.

Sophie Lurton, Lucien’s daughter, has been managing the estate since 2002. Under the Lurton ownership, Chateau Bouscaut has enjoyed continued improvements in the wine and in the wine making. In 2010, they completed a renovation and modernization of the cellars. They also added to their holdings with the purchase of Chateau Lamothe Bouscaut.

Chateau Bouscaut Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 52 hectare vineyard of Chateau Bouscaut is the largest vineyard in the Cadaujac commune. At Chateau Bouscaut, 42 hectares of vines are reserved for red wine grape varieties. The vines are planted to 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 7% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot for their red wine. This shows an increase in the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the vines. It is interesting to note the large amount of Malbec planted here as well.

For the white wine grape varieties, 10 hectares of vines are planted to 55% Sauvignon Blanc and 45% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. This shows an increase in the amount of Sauvignon Blanc over the years.

Even though the vineyard is quite large, it is essentially one large parcel of vines. The terroir is gravel, clay, limestone and sand soils on sloping hillsides. At their peak, the vineyards reach up to 34 meters.

On average, the vines are old, at close to 40 years of age. However, Chateau Bouscaut has some very old Semillon vines that are over 100 years of age! The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 7,200 vines per hectare. Picking varies for the red wine grapes, as the estate uses both machine harvesting and hand picking depending on the grape variety. The white wine grapes are always picked only by hand.

To produce the red wine of Chateau Bouscaut, vinification takes place in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional cement vats and stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation takes place in vat and barrels. The wine is aged in an average of 50% new, French oak barrels for 16 months.

To produce the white Bordeaux wine of Chateau Bouscaut, vinification of the Sauvignon Blanc takes place in used, French oak barrels. The Semillon is vinified in 40% new, French oak barrels. There is some skin contact allowed. There is no malolactic fermentation.

The wines from each varietal are aged in their own barrels until the wine is is blended before bottling, after 12 months of aging. The white wine is blended just before bottling.

On average, for Chateau Bouscaut, the production of the red wine is close to 16,000 cases per vintage and the white sees about 4,000 cases each year. There is a second wine for both the red and white wine, Les Chenes de Bouscaut. Here, even though much more red wine is produced, most of the time, the white wine is usually their better wine.

The best vintages of Chateau Bouscaut are: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2005 and 2000. However, it is important to note that there are years when the red wine is better than the white wine and vintages when the white wine is better than the red.

When to Drink Chateau Bouscaut, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Bouscaut can be enjoyed on the young side with decanting. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1-2 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Chateau Bouscaut is usually better with at least 5-7 years of bottle age. Of course that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Bouscaut offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 9-17 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Bouscaut, with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Bouscaut is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. The red wine of Chateau Bouscaut is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes.

Chateau Bouscaut Rouge is a perfect match with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms and pasta as well as cheese.

The white wine of Chateau Bouscaut is a perfect wine to serve with shellfish, sashimi, sushi, all types of seafood, chicken, veal and cheese.

Chateau Bouscaut also produces 2 other wines in the appellation, Chateau Valoux and Chateau Lamothe-Bouscaut from vines they own in the Pessac Leognan.

www.chateau-bouscaut.com