Château Grand Français
château
grand français
A certified organic estate north of Saint-Émilion, led by winemaker and export manager Patricia Feraud. Precise, classically structured wines from one of fewer than 2% of Bordeaux producers to hold Ecocert certification.
Head Winemaker, Patricia Feraud
Château Grand Français sits in the l'Isle Valley, north of Saint-Émilion, on land planted with vines for over 500 years. The estate takes its name from a Gascon place name identifying the land between the l'Isle and Drôme rivers. Eight hectares, south-facing, in a single block.
Head winemaker and export manager Patricia Feraud came to wine by way of law — she holds a degree from the Université d'Agen, which turns out to be a useful background in a region where appellation rules and certification requirements shape decisions from the vineyard up. She has worked through virtually every role at Grand Français: seasonal vineyard operations, team management, quality assurance, and the development of the aromatic profiles that distinguish each cuvée.
Grand Français was Ecocert organic-certified in 2002, after a three-year process— one of fewer than 2% of Bordeaux estates to hold the certification. That commitment runs through everything Patricia does at the estate, from how the vines are tended to how each vintage is assembled.
FARMING AND WINEMAKING
The estate is planted at 5,000 vines per hectare — 45% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc — pruned short in double guyot to control yields and distribute fruit evenly. Organic certification means mechanical and manual weeding every ten days rather than using herbicides once a year. Kaolin — a naturally occurring clay mineral — is applied to protect the fruit from sunburn and ward off leafhoppers without synthetic inputs.
Harvest is done by hand, with each grape selected on the vine. After sorting, each variety is vinified separately in dedicated vessels. Fermentation runs about 15 days without added yeast. Blending decisions are made after careful selection for each cuvée, and the wines are bottled at the estate.
The Grande Cuvée ages 10 to 14 months in a combination of new and older 600-liter French oak barrels. The vines behind it are over 40 years old, growing in sandy-silty soil over red gravel on a south-facing slope at approximately 80 feet elevation.
