A small appellation, you might say, in the shadow of its prestigious neighbour Pomerol... But Lalande de Pomerol is definitely worth a visit. There are about 160 Châteaux here, which have the ideal terroir for beautiful Merlot wines structured with Cabernet Franc.
I personally highly recommend this event. You can visit some very prestigious wineries this way and taste wines you wouldn't otherwise buy. Even more interestingly, you will discover smaller wineries whose wines are simply outstanding, and at a very reasonable price. The merchants don't usually offer them. Either because the winemaker doesn't want to sell through a negociant (wholesaler), or the winery itself is little known.
Portes Ouvertes are usually held in Lalande de Pomerol on the penultimate weekend in April. In 2023 it was the weekend of 22 and 23 April.
The following wineries participated:
CHATEAU CANON CHAIGNEAU (ARCONIAN family)
CHATEAU DES CAPUCINS (Mr. CARRETERO and Mr. GUIONNEAU)
CHATEAU CASTEL-VIAUD (COURTY family)
CHATEAU DE LA COMMANDERIE (de COLBERT family)
CHATEAU CHEVROL BEL AIR (PRADIER family)
CHATEAU DE CHAMBRUN and CHATEAU MONCETS (Julien NÖEL)
CHATEAU LA CROIX DE LA CHENEVELLE (BEDRENNE family)
CHATEAU DE L’EVECHE and CHATEAU MOULIN DE SALES (CHAUMET family)
CHATEAU LA FREROTTE (TARENDEAU family)
DOMAINE DU GRAND ORMEAU (GARDE family)
CHATEAU DU GRAND ORMEAU (Liesel MAURIN)
CHATEAU HAUT-CHAIGNEAU and CHATEAU LA SERGUE (Pascal CHATONNET)
CHATEAU HAUT-GOUJON (Corinne and Mickaël GARDE)
CHATEAU HAUT SURGET (FOURREAU family)
CHATEAU PERRON (Bertrand MASSONIE)
CHATEAU SIAURAC (Céline MASSON)
CHATEAU TOURNEFEUILLE (Emeric PETIT)
CHATEAU VIEUX CHEVROL (CHAMPSEIX family)
CHATEAU VIEUX RIVIERE (Romain RIVIERE)
CHATEAU YVELINE (DURAND-BOUYAT family)
These 6 wineries had a joint presentation at L'espace du Vieux Presbytère - 33500 NEAC (right next to the church) :
CHATEAU ADELINE (ESBEN family)
CHATEAU LES CHAGNASSES (Isabelle CARRERE)
CHATEAU LA FLEUR D'EYMERITS (Vincent LAGRAVE)
CHATEAU LA PETITE DUCHESSE (CHAMPAGNE family)
DOMAINE PONT DE GUITRES (Rémy ROUSSELOT)
CHATEAU VOSELLE (SIMON family)
So a total of 29 wineries.
For the record, 31 wineries participated in 2022, see map and list below:
And in the individual chateaux, it was not just tours and wine tasting. Some of them also offered the possibility to eat directly at their winery or provided a food truck.
Dining at the Château:
- Château Chatain
- Château Chevrol Bel Air: selling cakes, jams and other specialties
- Château La Croix de la Chenevelle
- Château Grand Ormeau
- Château Les Graves de Lavaud: restaurant "de la Terre au Verre".
- Château Haut-Goujon
- Château Haut Surget
- Château Perron
- Château Tournefeuille
Food truck:
- "Le bocal" at Château Castel Viaud
- "Un truck comme ça" at Château Haut-Chaigneau
- "Burger Gourmet" at Château Vieux Chevrol
- Château Moncets & Chambrun
In some Châteaux they also had another accompanying program with the following activities:
Regarding the wine:
- Château Tournefeuille: explanatory walk through the vineyards
- Château Haut Surget: guided tour of the cellars
- Châteaux Haut-Chaigneau and La Sergue: oenological workshop
- Château Moncets & Chambrun: introduction to wine tasting
Other:
- Château La Fredotte: horse-drawn carriage ride
- Château La Fredotte: presentation of artistic crafts, especially leather work
- Château Moncets & Chambrun: exhibition by a local artist
- Château Vieux Chevrol: exhibition of motorcycles, cars and collection tractors
- Château Vieux Chevrol : photo exhibition of the Libourne photo club