Chateau Rabaud-Promis

The earliest documents showing a Chateau Rabaud started in 1660 when Antonine de Cazeau married Madame Peyronne de Rabeau, and the estate was part of her dowry. It continued to be under the new owners for several generations until 1819, when it was sold to Gabriel Deyne. Under Gabriel’s tenure the estate was ranked as premier cru in the 1855 classification of Sauternes.

In 1863 it was sold to Henri Drouilhet de Sigalas, with the wine labeled as Chateau Rabaud de Sigalas. The vineyards were expanded, and with the acquisition of Chateau Pexiotto, reached 10-hectare. The creation of Rabaud-Promis came in 1903, when Henri’s only son sold the majority of the vineyards to Adrien Promis. Henri held onto the core of the Sigalas vineyards, just 14 hectares, but of higher quality.

Adrien then built an attractive chateau on the more than 40 hectares of vines, close to the top of the hill. His daughters then inherited the estate, and in 1930 the two estates were joined functionally, with both under the control of Ferdinand Ginestet. In 1950 the Ginestet family sold their interests in Rabaud-Promis in order to fund the purchase of Chateau Margaux, to Raymond-Louis Lanneluc.

Under Raymond the estate was in a period of negligence, with the quality of the wine deteriorated. The recovery arrived when Philippe Dejean, coming from a winemaking family in Loupiac, married one of Raymond’s granddaughters. Philippe, believing in the potential of the vineyards, bought the full control of it in 1981, gradually replacing the underground vats with stainless steel tanks, and the proportion of new oak became more consistent.

Quality improved, and the wine went back to its proper status as a premier cru. Now the vineyards cover 35 hectares, located on the same hill as Sigalas-Rabaud. The soil is mainly gravel over clay. The chateau faces north, with the vines in front sloping gently down towards the west, at the foot it is only a few hundred metres from the Ciron, the cool water responsible for generating the morning mists for the development of botrytis.

Planted with 80% Semillon, 18% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Muscadelle, the vines are grown under organic methods. The fruit is harvested in tries manually, to select the botrytised fruit, with a small yield. The must is fermented in steel then wood, with the use of new oak restrained, much lower than other estates in the same year. The grand vin is Chateau Rabaud-Promis, with a second wine called Chateau Bequet and Domaine de l’Estremade, both in fact being the same wine.

 

I have recently tasted the 1999 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Good quality Sauternes with light gold color, the nose is reasonably intense, showing good complexity of sultana, orange peel, apricot, honey, cedar and honeysuckle. Medium sweet, it has a nice acidity supporting a good refreshing palate of reasonable concentration of apricot, toast, honey an...d caramel, orange marmalade and honeysuckle. It is an easy-drinking dessert wine which can be drunk without accompanying food. With a reasonable finish, it is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.