Château Rieussec - Carmes de Rieussec - Sauternes

Onshore Cellars - ICONIC Producer

Château Rieussec is one of the biggest estates in Sauternes-Barsac, covering 93 hectares of gravelly sandy-clay soils. The property used to belong to the Carmelite monks but was confiscated during the French Revolution and put up for sale in the 1970s at which time it was purchased by the owner of Château La Louvière. The Domaine changed hands many times until 1984 when it was purchased by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite).

Under Domaine Barons de Rothschild management, new systems were put in place to facilitate meticulous selection of the grapes and fermenting in barrels to make the Grand Vin. In 1989 investments were made in a new barrel room that allowed them to extend the ageing period of their wines resulting in an entire decade of remarkable wines from 1995 to 2005.

“The wines of Sauternes are so wonderful that we wanted to have our own, and Rieussec’s vineyard is outstanding”

Baron Eric de Rothschild

Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world's most famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90 percent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux Blends that established its reputation.

The finest (and most expensive) of these are the wines from the great châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The former is focused (at the top level) on Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter pair on on Merlot.

The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines based on Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. These range from dry whites to challenge the best from the Burgundy region (Pessac-Léognan is particularly renowned) to the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.