Profile: Les Vignobles Famille André Lurton

As one of the major producer of Entre-Deux-Mers and Pessac-Léognan whose history goes back to the 18^th century, is no surprise that Bordeaux producer Les Vignoble Famille André Lurton is regarded as a benchmark of wines from the region.

A brief history

The company was founded back to 1897, when patriarch Léonce Recapet first acquired Château Bonnet and its 47 hectares of vines and meadows in Grézillac. Château Brane-Cantenac, a second growth in the 1855 classification, was added in 1925, and Léonce became a shareholder in the illustrious Château Margaux a few years later. However, a series of family tragedy’s resulted in the family holdings being divided among the children of Leonce’s only surviving daughter, Denise, and her husband, Francois Lurton. The company as we know it followed their eldest son, the charismatic André Lurton, who inherited Château Bonnet. He later added the historic Château La Louvière in Pessac-Léognan in 1965 – his first acquisition in Graves – and embarked on a major overhaul of the estate.

Over the next forty years, the Les Vignoble Famille André Lurton continued to grow, with the addition of the vineyards of Château Couhins-Lurton, classified in 1953 for its white wines, which are made exclusively from Sauvignon Blanc, in 1970; followed by Château de Cruzeau in Saint-Médard d’Eyrans (Pessac-Léognan appellation) in 1973; Château de Rochemorin in Martillac was acquired in 1985 along with 30 hectares belonging to Château de Quantin, in the commune of Saint-Médard d’Eyran, whose vineyards had been abandoned. 1990 saw the purchase of Château Grossombre, which has since been expanded to a total of 25 hectares, while the château and cellars of Couhins-Lurton were acquired two years later, reuniting the château with the vineyards that the company had acquired two decades earlier.

Les Vignobles André Lurton also became a shareholder in the Société d’Exploitation de Château Dauzac, a fifth growth Margaux estate and was instrumental in the creation of the Pessac-Leognan appellation in 1987.

It is therefore no surprise that the company now is a major Bordeaux player, with around 600 hectares of vines (more than 70% , or 430 hectares, producing red wine) and ten châteaux across seven different appellations, including Pessac-Léognan, Margaux, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Entre-Deux-Mers and Graves. Around 4 million bottles are sold annually, split between 58% red wine, 34% white while and 8% rosé, with turnover of around 25,4 million euros. Recently it also launched micro cuvées (700 bottles) in single varietals from three of its estates.

And in recent years, the company has risen to even great heights – since 2019 it has been run by André Lurton’s sixth child, Jacques Lurton, who after a brief stint working with his father in the mid 1980s, made wine in Australia, France, Spain, Portugal and South America. Since returning to the family company after his father’s death, he has used his extensive experience to give the wines a breath of fresh air.

This is particularly true of the whites, with the aim that “each variety expresses the maximum of its potential and its typicity”. He puts particular emphasis on Semillon, for example which he says “represents the white grape variety of the future of Bordeaux compatible with climate change”.

“For the reds, the aim is that same: the varietal style by making the wines as fruity as possible, with tannins that are supple, round and sweet. Jacques works on the complexity of the wine but also on the pleasure it must give to the consumers,” the company says.

Château Bonnet

Château Bonnet remains the spiritual home and headquarters of the Vignobles André Lurton, a 300 hectare estate in Entre-deux-Mers where the team experiments with new technology and sustainable viticultural practices. “Several experimental initiatives and research are being conducted at Château Bonnet and new wines are seeing the day: sulphite free wines, a blanc de noirs brut nature, 20 hectares of Biocontrol vines (Cuvée Eden), several alternative varieties have been planted,” a spokesperson said.

In the last three years it has invested in biodiversity initiatives including adding bees, chicken and sheep, fruit trees and a vegetable garden, as well as new woodland areas have been created.

“These new projects already seem to have a positive impact on the environment, on one hand on the vines , and on the other on the wildlife (birds and insects) which are multiplying and finding ideal conditions for their development,” they said.

Bonnet’s eponymous red wine is a “benchmark in Bordeaux”, the company said, a 60% Merlot/ 40% Cabernet Sauvignon blend that is ” best enjoyed on the young side, although the quality tannin ensures good ageing for several years”.

“Château Bonnet is our biggest estate and at an entry level within our portfolio, with both the red, whites and rosé wines providing brilliant value,” they added.

The château is also home to prestige cuvée, Divinus de Château Bonnet Rouge, an assemblage of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot that displays “softer fruit, more body and more pronounced oak when young” than the Château Bonnet Réserve. The portfolio also includes a relatively new addition, Château Bonnet Cuvée Eden Rouge, a 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon blend made from plots cultivated using natural plant protection method, Biocontrol, which uses indigenous yeasts for fermentation, and no sulphites.

But it’s not only the company’s longest-held vineyard that takes all the plaudits. Chateau Barbe Blanche, which was acquired in 2000 by André Lurton, has been called “secret” estate in Saint Émilion, situated on a ridge of clay and limestone in Lussac, facing the best slopes of Saint Émilion. The  vineyard in currently converting to organic viticulture, and here Merlot “is king”, the company says, yielding “soft and tasty” wines.

“The vineyard is blessed with a wonderful limestone terroir, it’s got a very romantic feel to it,” a spokesperson adds.

Among its many wines are four that attained medals in the drinks business’s recent Spring Tasting.

The medal winners from The Global Wine Masters

Château De Barbe Blanche

Producer: Les Vignobles Famille Andre Lurton

Region: Bordeaux (AOC Lussac Saint-Emilion)

Country: France

Vintage: 2018

Grape varieties: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc

ABV: 14%

Residual sugar: 0.6g/l

Closure: Cork

Approx. retail price: £22

Medal: Gold

A lovely, maturing Lussac Saint-Emilion that’s drinking beautifully now, with some fleshy red and dark berry fruit, a hint of stewed plums, cedar and dark chocolate, along with a warming finish, with plenty of dry tannins to make you salivate.

Divinus de Château Bonnet

Producer: Les Vignobles Famille Andre Lurton

Region: Bordeaux

Country: France

Vintage: 2019

Grape varieties: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot

ABV: 13.5%

Residual sugar: 0.2g/l

Closure: Cork

Approx. retail price: £25

Medal: Gold

A cabernet-dominant Bordeaux blend with lots of blackcurrant and baked cherry flavours, complemented by notes of balsamic and cigar box, then dense, fine-grained tannins. Ripe and fleshy, but dry and lively, this is a well-balanced red that’s delicious now, but with potential to age and develop further complexity and softness with time.

Château Bonnet Blanc

Producer: Les Vignobles Famille Andre Lurton

Region: Bordeaux (AOC Entre-deux-Mers)

Country: France

Vintage: 2022

Grape varieties: 80% Sauvignon blanc, 20% Sémillon

ABV: 12.5%

Residual sugar: 0.6g/l

Closure: Cork

Approx. retail price: £15

Medal: Silver

A round and ripe Sauvignon-Semillon blend from Entre-deux-Mers with notes of pear and passion fruit, along with gooseberry and nettle, followed by a persistent fresh, citrusy finish.

Château Bonnet Eden

Producer: Les Vignobles Famille Andre Lurton

Region: Bordeaux

Country: France

Vintage: 2021

Grape varieties: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon

ABV: 13%

Residual sugar: 0.2g/l

Closure: Cork

Approx. retail price: £17

Medal: Bronze

A medium-weight red with some red berry fruit, a touch of blackcurrant and cherry, followed by notes of fresh tobacco and nettle, and then a chewy, dry tannic finish.