Château Castera

Château Castera can look back on a very eventful past from the Middle Ages to the present day. The origins of the estate go back to the time of feudalism.

Château Castera – tradition and progress

The owners of the estate include, among others, the Arsac family, important wine exporters in the 14th century, Étienne de La Boétie, the famous humanist, as well as the Marquis de Verthamon. Everyone who has lived here has contributed to the development of Château Castera and helped ensure that the winery has survived the course of time unscathed.

Overcoming crises

As early as 1850, Castera had gained great renown thanks to the Bordeaux guide by Charles Cook. However, the phylloxera crisis, which devastated the vineyards, brought about an unexpected end. The Verthamons, the then owners of the estate, were therefore forced to sell their property. In 1922, Monsieur Degonde and his family took over Château Castera and directly achieved the status of Cru Bourgeois at the first classification in 1932.

After a trading company had temporarily taken over the management, Carl E. Press (the father of the current owner), together with Dieter Tondera, bought the estate in 1986. This duo undertook extensive renovation work on the building and in the vineyards, thus laying the foundation for today’s reputation and success of Château Castera.

At Castera, values come first

Even though technological progress has always been part of the story, winemaking is primarily carried out in a rather traditional way:

• Sorting the harvested grapes by hand
• Temperature controls and a somewhat longer maceration fermentation
• Great importance is placed on harmony in the use of wood in order to emphasize the fruitiness of the wines and not overpower it
• All wines are aged for 12 months in French barriques,
• then bottled and stored in the bottle for another 24 months before finally going on sale.