Winery Tour and Seated Tasting at Château de la Rivière, Appellation Canon-Fronsac - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours, France

We spent the day in the Fronsac region.

Following lunch

Lunch at the Dordogne River at Restaurant Le Bord d’Eau in Fronsac - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours, France

we visited Château de la Rivière. After a tour of the impressive underground cellars, we sat down for an extensive wine tasting.

Château de la Rivière

The beginnings of Château de la Rivière go back to the 8th century when emperor Charlemagne gave the order to construct a fort on this strategic location. It is impossible to overlook this fairytale Château, which it is now after being converted from a fort into a château in the 16-hundreds, when driving through the Fronsac region. 

It sits on a commanding hillside position overlooking the vineyards below. Château de la Rivière was owned by the same family for more than 500 years. 

In 1995 Jean Leprince purchased the estate and undertook major modernisations. He was killed in a helicopter crash in 2002 and James Grégoire, the wealthy owner of a grape harvesting machine manufacturer, bought the château. In December of 2013 the wine world was shocked to learn that James Grégoire also died in a helicopter crash. He was flying over the vineyards with Chinese billionaire Lam Kok a day after he had signed a deal to sell him Château de la Rivière. Today it is the widow of Lam Kok, who owns the estate. 

Château de la Rivière is the largest winemaking estate in the Canon-Fronsac appellation with about 150 acres of vineyard. 80% is planted with Merlot, 12% with Cabernet-Franc, 6% with Cabernet-Sauvignon, and 2 & with old Malbec vines. In addition to the red wine the Château produces a dry white wine made from 67% Sauvignon Blanc and 33% Sauvignon Gris. 

The terroir is predominantly limestone, similar to the Saint-Émilion appellation. Agricultural engineer and enologist Xavier Buffo is the executive director of Château de la Rivière. He has been working there since 1997, guaranteeing continuation and consistency and he is determined to make sure that the wines of Château de la Rivière are among the leading names in the appellation.

Arriving

Introduction in the Courtyard

Cellar Tour

Seated Tasting

We tasted 6 wines.

Bye-bye

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