Chateau Bernadotte is a charming French residence built in 1860, and vineyard, named in honour of Germaine Bernadotte, the ancestress of Sweden’s king Charles XIV John.
Germaine married Joandou of Pouey in the year 1615. Their son, Jean, retained the name of Bernadotte. He was the ancestor of marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who, four generations later, was appointed sovereign Prince by Napoleon, then elected to succeed Swedish King Charles XIII as Charles XIV John.
Chateau Bernadotte is located in Haut-Médoc, the large southern section of the greater Medoc district of Bordeaux in south-western France and also the name of the appellation that covers the vineyards here. It accounts for two-thirds of the Medoc peninsula and produces more fine wine per acre than almost anywhere else in the world.
Chateau Bernadotte was renovated in 1989 by a Swedish industrialist, Curt Eklund, who made successive purchases of vineyards and built a fully equipped winery. The first vintage dates back to 1981. It was purchased in 1997 by Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, whose owner Madame de Lencquesaing aimed to extend the range of its wines by taking a cru bourgeois close to Pichon. Since 1998 significant investments have been made to improve the residence, the 35-hectare vineyard and the winery.
In 2007, la Maison de Champagne Louis Roederer purchased Château Bernadotte and the Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and, after analysis of the area’s soil, a renovation of the vineyard was effectuated by re-grouping of plots thus recreating plantations.
The estate’s vineyards cover an area of nearly 35 hectares with an even distribution of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot on a gravelly and sandy soil clay and limestone. The area of vineyards are cultivated according to the principles of sustainable viticulture. For the harvest of the grapes, winery Château Bernadotte uses the traditional method. The dedicated team and quality of infrastructures and equipment endow today’s wines of Château Bernadotte with a solid structure and fine and spicy tannins, providing a deep, intense colour; they are widely recognized to be elegant and charming with generous flavours of red fruits.
Le Fournas Nord, 33250 Saint-Sauveur, France
00 33 5 56 59 57 04