Vignobles Bayle-Carreau comprises six Bordeaux châteaux on the right bank of the river, in the Côtes de Bourg and Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux appellations. The group was born of the marriage of two families who vowed to unite both in life and in the running of the estate, much to the delight of enthusiasts who have the chance to taste the exquisite wines from the family’s various châteaux.

The union of two families

Vignobles Bayle-Carreau is, as you might expect, the result of the union of the Bayle and Carreau families. Each had already gone their own way. In 1852, Antoine Carreau acquired Château Barbé, an estate with optimal exposure. Under the impetus of his descendants, the vineyard underwent expansion, doubling its original surface area. The estate was then handed down from generation to generation to Claude Carreau. The Bayle family followed suit, and in 1910, Émile Bayle purchased Château La Carelle. He runs the vineyard alongside his son André, who plays a major role in the estate’s reputation. In 1952, André Bayle’s daughter Jeanne-Marie married Claude Carreau. The families decided to join forces and continued to run their estates side by side. This collaboration enables us to share best practices from each farm, and boost production quality and sales. Over the years, the Bayle-Carreau family successively acquired four additional estates: Château Pardaillan, Château Eyquem, Château Landreau and Château Sainte Clotilde. Today, the children and grandchildren of the founding couple are at the helm of the estate, promoting its wines internationally.

Castles

Château Barbé

Historically owned by the family group, this 20-hectare estate stretches from plateau to hillside, all benefiting from a southern exposure ideal for ripening fruit. This vineyard produces three cuvées: a powerful, fruity red wine and two white wines, one dry and lively with marked citrus notes, the other sweet with exotic fruit aromas.

Château La Carelle

The Bayle family’s first acquisition, Château La Carelle benefits from a special geology, with sandy-clay soils that make it easy to work the soil and give the house’s red wine a special aromatic profile. This cuvée is supple and refined, expressing notes of raspberry and blackcurrant.

Château Pardaillan

Acquired in 1975 by Vignoble Bayle-Carreau, Château Pardaillan is the family’s spearhead in the preservation of the environment. Farmed with respect for biodiversity and using integrated farming methods, it produces a woody, well-balanced red wine with silky tannins.

Château Sainte Clotilde

The latest addition to the Bayle-Carreau family, straddling the communes of Blaye and Plassac, thesouth-facing parcels face the Gironde on a clay-limestone terroir where Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon thrive.

The mansion dominating the hillside was bombed in 1944 by the British during the reconquest of this German-occupied bank of the Gironde. The house was never rebuilt. This property is the driving force behind the estate’s natural wines, with the1st vintage without added sulfites in 2020, a Terra Vitis and HVE3 certified vintage.

Château Eyquem

Château Eyquem is Vignoble Bayle-Carreau’s flagship for wine tourism. It’s here that the group offers tours and tastings of the company’s wines, in particular the Côtes de Bourg Château Eyquem, an elegant, racy wine with excellent ageing potential, also produced using sustainable viticulture methods.

Château Landreau

Home to Cyril Jourdan, current CEO of Les Vignobles, Château Landreau has been rebuilt from scratch after being completely abandoned. It has all the hallmarks of a vineyard of exceptional quality, as demonstrated by the house red wine, which is fruity yet characterized by a fine tannic structure.

Photo by Vignobles Bayle-Carreau