Château Olivier is a Bordeaux wine

Bordeaux wine

A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...

 from the Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan is a French wine appellation, within the Graves subregion of the Bordeaux wine region. Both red and white wine is produced within the appellation, which consists of 10 communes: Cadaujac, Canéjan, Gradignan, Léognan, Martillac, Mérignac, Pessac, Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, Talence and...

 appellation

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

, ranked among the Premiers Crus for red and dry white wine in the Classification of Graves wine

Classification of Graves wine

The wines of Graves in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux were classified in 1953 by a jury appointed by Institute Nacional des Appellations d'Origine, and approved by the Minister of Agriculture in August of that year. The selection was revised with a few additions in February 1959...

 of 1953 and 1959. The winery

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 and vineyards are located south of the city of Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

, in the commune of Léognan

Léognan

Léognan is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are called Léognanais.-Wine:It is located in the Graves area of the Bordeaux county, known for its red wine :...

.

In addition to red and dry white Grand vin the estate also produces the second wine

Second wine

Second wine is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from cuvee not selected for use in the Grand vin or first label...

 La Seigneurie d'Olivier du Chateau Olivier.

History

Although the estate has a long history dating back to the 14th century when the property was occupied by the d'Olivey family, viticulture first began when it came to Count Charles-Joseph Maurice d'Etchegoyen in 1846. The estate's actual château, today classified as a monument historique, is of such a nature that it was one of only two Léognan estates given the prefix "château" in the first French edition of Cocks & Féret

Cocks & Féret

Cocks & Féret or simply Féret, is the colloquial name of a Bordeaux wine directory originally created by Charles Cocks and Michel-Édouard Féret in 1846, which was published under the name Bordeaux, its Wines and the Claret Country and translated into French and published as the first edition of...

.

Olivier passed to the Bousset-Salvat family, and then to Alexandre Watcher, and by the marriage of Agnew Watcher and Jacques de Bethmann in the early 20th century, the current owners De Bethmann family took control. Château Olivier is currently managed by Jean-Jacques de Bethmann.

Production

From a largely forested estate of 220 hectares the vineyard area consists of 50 hectares, 38 of which are planted with grape varieties of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, 45% Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

 and 10% Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...

. 12 hectares are cultivated with white varieties of 55% Sémillon

Sémillon

Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...

, 40% Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

 and 5% Muscadelle

Muscadelle

Muscadelle is a white wine grape variety. It has a simple aroma of grape juice and raisins like grapes of the Muscat family of grapes, but it is unrelated....

.

The Grand vin, Château Olivier, is annually produced in 18,000 cases of the red wine and 6,000 cases of the dry white.

External links

• Château Olivier official site