Château Croix de Bertinat

Identity

Château Croix de Bertinat is a winegrowing estate located in Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens, in the Gironde department. The property takes its name from a cross erected in 1872.

History and philosophy

The history of Château Croix de Bertinat dates back to the 18th century, when it was recorded as a mixed-farming estate on the 1756 carte de Cassini. During the 18th century, the de Sèze family owned the property. The 1893 Guide Feret classified it as a "Cru bourgeois Saint Sulpice". Phylloxera first appeared in the region around 1866.

In 1960, Christian Lafaye began restructuring the vineyard. In 2012, the property and the vineyard were reunited. Between 2013 and 2014, the cellar was modernised with the installation of temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, the introduction of a vertical press, the creation of an air-conditioned barrel cellar, and the construction of a new tasting room.

The estate is committed to sustainable viticulture, banning herbicides and CMR substances. Château Croix de Bertinat was awarded Terra Vitis certification in 2018 and HVE Level 3 certification in 2021.

The appellations

Château Croix de Bertinat produces wines under the Saint-Émilion, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, and Bordeaux appellations.

Flagship wines

The estate produces two main cuvées:

CHÂTEAU CROIX DE BERTINAT

This cuvée is crafted from vines with an average age of 35 years. The blend is 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, yielding an annual production of around 14,000 bottles across 8.3 hectares. It exhibits a structure that reflects its barrel ageing.

Marquise de Bertinat

This cuvée is made from the same grape variety blend (60% Merlot N, 35% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon) across 8.3 hectares, with vines averaging 35 years of age. Annual production is approximately 21,000 bottles. It offers a style shaped by its ageing in vats.

Practical information

Château Croix de Bertinat is located at 615 avenue de Saint-Émilion, 33330 Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens. The estate can be contacted by telephone on +33 (0)5 57 24 64 31 or by email at contact@chateaucroixdebertinat.com.

Guided tours of the estate—encompassing the parcels, the vinification cellar, and the barrel room, followed by a tasting in a room overlooking the vineyard—are available by appointment Monday to Friday, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Tours last approximately one hour. The price is €10 per person, and free of charge for minors.

The estate also offers three guest rooms: Chambre Joly (accommodating up to 3 guests), Chambre Emilion (up to 3 guests), and Chambre Bertinat (up to 4 guests). Amenities include a fully equipped kitchen, a dining room, a lounge, a landscaped garden, and a swimming pool.

Find out more

Official estate website

The vineyard (terroir)

The Château Croix de Bertinat vineyard covers a total area of 8.6 hectares. The parcels are planted on sandy-gravel soils, including a seam of deep siliceous gravel. The estate is located approximately 500 metres east of the village centre of Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens and 3 km south-west of the village of Saint-Émilion.

The vines have an average age of 35 years, with older parcels reaching between 50 and 70 years old. Pruning is carried out using the Guyot simple system. Canopy management and manual vineyard work include debudding, leaf-stripping, crop thinning, and green harvesting when necessary. Soil cultivation is performed mechanically by unhilling (décavaillonnage).

The grape varieties planted for the AOC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru parcels comprise 60% Merlot Noir, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. For the AOC Bordeaux, plantings consist of 100% Sauvignon Gris.

Vinification and ageing

Harvesting is carried out by hand at optimal ripeness, monitoring each parcel individually. Grapes undergo manual sorting upon arrival at the cellar. The temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation vats allow precise control over alcoholic and malolactic fermentations.

For the CHÂTEAU CROIX DE BERTINAT cuvée, maceration lasts 24 days and ageing takes place for 12 months in French oak barrels, 50% of which are new oak. The Marquise de Bertinat cuvée undergoes 20 days of vatting and is aged in stainless steel vats.