Château Haut-Bages Libéral

Château Haut-Bages Libéral is a fifth growth of the 1855 classification, thirty hectares on the Bages plateau in Pauillac, directly alongside Château Latour and Pichon Baron. The Libéral family, wine brokers who sold much of their production into Belgium and the Netherlands, assembled the vineyards in the eighteenth century and gave the estate the second half of its name. The first half describes where it sits, high on the plateau between Pauillac and Saint-Julien.

The estate slipped into neglect after the classification and was replanted from 1960 by the Cruse family, then passed to the Villars family in 1983. It has been run since 2000 by Claire Villars-Lurton, who with her husband Gonzague Lurton also holds Château Ferrière and Château La Gurgue in Margaux and Château Durfort-Vivens.

What makes the vineyard unusual for Pauillac is its geology. Part of it lies on a rare limestone mound near the Gironde rather than the deep gravel that defines the commune, and that limestone is generally credited with the freshness and finesse the wines show against the power of their neighbours. The plantings are led by Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot in support.

Villars-Lurton began converting the vineyard in 2007 and has taken it further than most classified growths: certified organic in 2019 and certified biodynamic by Demeter in 2022, with agroforestry and agroecology running alongside. Vinification is plot by plot in stainless steel and concrete, and part of the ageing now happens in amphora and concrete ovals as well as French oak.