Château Berliquet

Berliquet is one of the oldest vineyards in Saint-Emilion. The vines, exposed south, southwest, are neighbours to several first growths. Since 1996 Patrick de Lesquen and his team have been hard at work to install Berliquet's fame by producing one of the most thoroughbred wines in the appellation.

Château Berliquet can trace its history back to 1794 and was promoted to a Grand Cru Classé in 1985. It consists of 9 hectares of vineyards superbly sited on the St. Emilion limestone plateau, adjoining those of Château Canon and Château Magdelaine.

Until 1978 Berliquet's wine was made by the local co-operative and the quality was good but rather unexciting. Since 1978 the wine has been vinified and matured at the Château and the wines have improved beyond recognition.

Bereliquet's wine is a blend of 67% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are matured in temperature-controlled vats and the wine is then matured in oak barriques (80% new) for 16 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered.

Patrick Valette has been a consultant at Berliquet since 1997 - "Our philosophy is to have very little production from each plant," says Valette. "We want to achieve a natural maturity and very good concentration, with balance. The wine's quality is achieved outside in the vineyard and not just in the cellar. In our wines, we are hoping to create a long palate and a wonderful expression of the fruit."

The arrival, in July 2008, of Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt marked the beginning of the search for even more precision in the vineyards and ripeness with the aim to express the finesse of its terroir.