Château Caillou

Château Caillou - best Bordeaux sweet wine

The Château Caillou is located in the wine-growing region of Barsac in Bordeaux and is a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé wine estate according to the classification of 1855. Barsac and the neighbouring Sauternes are especially known for their sweet wines, which are also produced at Château Caillou. The history of the current owners begins in 1909 with the sale of the estate from Louis Sarraute to Joseph Ballan. The estate continues to move through the family over the next few years via his daughter and granddaughter, until in 2017 his great-grandson Sébastien Pierre takes over the estate.

The Sémillon - the heart of Château Caillou

ChâteauCaillou sits on a clay-limestone plateau covered in red sand and pebbles. The vineyard covers 18 hectares, where mainly the grape variety Sémillon thrives. Sauvignon accounts for the remaining 10%. Sémillon is the sweet wine grape variety of the region, as it has a high adaptability to Botrytis cinerea, which causes noble rot in wine. If the fungus attacks the grapes at the right time, that is, when they are fully ripe, water can escape through the perforation of the grape skin and the sugar and aromatic substances of the grape can concentrate. If the fungus attacks the grape too early, ripening cannot be completed.

All work in the vineyard is done manually. This begins with pruning and green harvesting, in order to "channel the power of the plant into the grape", through to harvesting, of course. Since only the grapes that show the infestation of Botrytis can be used for wine production, a strict selection is necessary. Since the process of noble rot can take a long time, the grapes are harvested in several rounds, so that the harvest cannot be completed until mid-November. The different harvests are then also given different batch numbers for further processing.

The wines of Château Caillou

The wines are finally aged in the cellar in barrels, the duration can range from one to several years. Château Caillou produces today four different sweet wines, which carry the Grand Cru appellation:

• Château Caillou, the first wine
• Cuvée Prestige
• Cuvée du Centenaire
• Cuvée Reine, named after the second daughter of Joseph Ballan, Sébastien's grandmother

Besides, there are three more wines in the portfolio, like the Vin Sec de Château Caillou, a dry wine out of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, the second wine Les Erables and the third wine Les Tourelles de Caillou.