Château Feytit-Clinet

The earliest records of the estate date to 1825, when it belonged to a member of the de Gombault family. From 1964 it was farmed under a lease-and-management agreement by the négociant house Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix, which ran until 2000. To take back the property, the Chasseuil family also had to buy out the City of Bordeaux — which owned 50% of the vineyard — and the young Jérémy Chasseuil had to prove he could run it. Once those terms were met in 2000, the family regained full control and Jérémy, an oenologist who trained at Château La Dominique in Saint-Émilion, took charge of a rapid rise in quality that turned this once-modest wine into one of Pomerol's great values.

A tiny 7-hectare vineyard planted 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, on the western edge of the Pomerol plateau near Clinet and Latour à Pomerol. Soils are a mix of gravel, clay and sand; vines average about 35 years at 8,000 vines/ha. Under Jérémy Chasseuil yields were cut from as high as 60 hl/ha to 32–40 hl/ha, green harvesting was introduced, and picking is now entirely by hand; new-oak use rose from 25% to an average of roughly 75%. Farming is sustainable but not certified organic. Production averages only 1,200–1,500 cases; the second wine is Les Colombiers de Feytit-Clinet.