Château Fontebride

Since 1964, Château Haut-Bergeron has recorded no less than 118 medals, including 68 gold medals, which makes it the most rewarded winery of Sauternes.

The role of the spouses has always been important alongside the winemakers, but it became a determining factor during the successive wars. This is the case of Fernande Lamothe who assured all the difficult tasks in the vineyard for several years while her husband Gaston and his employee Adrien, had been called to fight in 1939.

1942 and 1945 were two beautiful vintages.

During his 3-years detention in Lebanon, the journalist writer Jean-Paul Kauffman said that he often used to dream of good wines and among others a certain Haut-Bergeron. In his book ” Voyage à Bordeaux ” he wrote after his release, he talks about our estate and its owner ” The excellent Robert Lamothe ” …

Adrien Lafabrie was a 12-year-old boy born in 1919 in a modest family, when our family welcomed him. Imprisoned during the war at age 19 for 5 years, when he was released, he returned to the farm and fell in love with Germaine, an employee of the Château. Together, they got married at Haut-Bergeron, and lived not far from the winery. For more than 50 years, Adrien and Germaine worked tirelessly for Haut-Bergeron. When he died, Adrien went to join eternity while drinking a bottle of Haut-Bergeron.

For a few years, an unscrupulous wine merchant was coming to buy Haut-Bergeron in order to sell them. It was working very well : indeed, he was dressing our bottles with labels, capsules and caps of one of the most famous Chateau of the appellation! An effective way to make a good living, but fortunately, justice has quickly solved this problem.

Did you know ?
For Château Haut-Bergeron, almost all years in 9 are exceptional years!
1929, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009.

In viticulture and especially in Sauternes, Mother Nature reigns. We often had the opportunity to check this fact : the years 1927, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1941, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1974, and 1993 were deprived us of Bergeron (or very few bottles on certain vintages).

In order to unify the vineyard and facilitate the work of viticulture, we have made in recent years an exchange of parcels of equivalent quality with our illustrious neighbor Yquem. A 60-ares plot ares that we cherish preciously

Robert Lamothe has been one of the main actors in the dynamics of Haut-Bergeron during the last 50 years. But his role in the profession and interprofession was also decisive. The highest responsibilities at the Syndicat and at the Maison du Sauternes, his involvement with the CIVB, the INAO and the FDGVB were hailed in December 2005 by the Chevalier medal and then the Commander of the Mérite Agricole, awarded by the minister of the agriculture of the time.

Following the catastrophic episode of Phylloxera, some rows of vines have fortunately survived. These vines, we call “our old ladies”, are today more than 100 years old ! Guarantors of the past, we pay them special attention, and their grapes, collected with the greatest care, have been dedicated to a special cuvée since 1996. The vines are 100% Sémillon and they are the great pride of the Château. Surprisingly fresh, precise and balanced, endowed with a wide aromatic palette and an endless length, this exceptional nectar with a honeyed taste will make you feel like you are a bee the time of a tasting.

In 1990, the property expanded thanks to the purchase of a plot located between the two branches of Ciron. It’s a small island !

Unique in Sauternes ! Ideally located, this plot benefits from a prodigious development of noble rot !