The Pradel de Lavaux family has been established as winemakers for nearly four centuries. Today, they own eight properties in different appellations of the Right Bank, bring their terroirs to life, preserving the agricultural and historical heritage and producing elegant and silky wines.
VertdeVin: Tell us the story of your family, how you acquired the eight properties?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: My ancestors on my grandmother’s side have been the owners of Château Bellevue, a grand cru classé in Saint-Émilion, since 1642. In 1740, they founded a trading house, which is today one of the oldest in Bordeaux, and became merchant-owners of eight châteaux on the Right Bank (in Fronsac, Lalande de Pomerol, Saint–Emilion), which came into the family through inheritance. In the 1920s my great-grandfather acquired Château Saint Pierre – 3ha in the heart of the Pomerol plateau. The château building is located right next to the Saint-Jean de Pomerol church, on the highest point of the appellation. We see it on the label of Château Saint-Pierre, which remains almost unchanged since 1920. My father, in 1970-80, acquired Château La Renaissance, which has now 6 ha. We also have Château Martinet, 25 ha in Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, located within the walls of the town of Libourne.
VertdeVin: What does the plot-by-plot approach to working the vines at Château Saint-Pierre consist of?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: I arrived at the vineyard in 2014 and I approached Stéphane Derenoncourt’s teams who help me to highlight the terroir of Château Saint-Pierre. We separated the plots to make the grand vin and the second wine of Château Saint-Pierre. Four plots of vines on the Pomerol plateau were selected to make the grand vin and two plots just below, on sandy soils – to make the second wine. We invested in these small vats to do precise vinification on these four plots, each of which brings a particular identity to the Château Saint-Pierre wine. We started using amphorae in 2017 and in 2018 we integrated Cabernet Franc into its blend. In 2014, Château Saint-Pierre was 100% Merlot and from the 2018 and 2019 vintages, we have 10-15% Cabernet Franc in its blend. The second wine, “II de Saint-Pierre”, which we have been producing since 2014, remains 100% Merlot. In recent vintages, we also add a bit of stalk to have more structure and freshness in the wine.
VertdeVin: In the current climatic conditions, do certain plots give better results than others?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: It is always the same vines in the heart of the Pomerol plateau with iron in the subsoil, which give the best results and which make the wine of the château. Afterwards, we adapt our techniques in the vineyard during the hot vintages to have more freshness in the wines. We produce 6000-7000 bottles of grand vin and second wine each year.
VertdeVin: What is special about Château La Renaissance, also located in Pomerol, and its Romana cuvée?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: The terroir contains more sand. In addition, since 2018 we have been making the Romana cuvée here, a wine without sulphites, 100% Merlot, vinified and aged in terracotta amphora. The idea is to apply ancestral methods and to have an authentic wine, without any input. The amphora is a neutral material, where the wine fully expresses the terroir. Cuvée Romana is produced only if we consider that the grapes are perfect for it, because the wine must hold without sulphites or additives during the aging in the amphorae. It is a very precise work. We started with 6 amphorae and 800 bottles in 2018, then 1000 in 2019, a little over 3000 bottles in 2020, 4500 bottles in 2022 and 3000 bottles in 2023. In 2021 and 2024 we did not produce a Cuvée Romana.
VertdeVin: What are the vinification and aging methods for Château Saint-Pierre? What containers do you use? What are the blends?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: For the great wine of Château Saint-Pierre, we use 60-70% new wood. Cabernet Franc is generally vinified and aged in amphorae. Since the year 2019, we have added, depending on the vintage, a little bit of stalk inside the Merlot vats at the time of vinification, to bring character to the wine, more power in the mouth. We have traditional vinification methods, in stainless steel vats, concrete vats, amphorae, and we try as much as possible to preserve the brightness of the fruit and floral notes in our wines. We try to make wines that are more refined, elegant, and that respect the terroir. We always look for a silky texture, more than the significant contribution of new wood.
VertdeVin: Do you have any plans for your properties?
Axel Pradel de Lavaux: One idea for the future is to acquire or replace certain plots of vines for white grape varieties and make white wines. Today, we do not receive the public at Château Saint-Pierre and Château La Renaissance, so we are also working on wine tourism and welcoming visitors to the properties.