Véronique Smati

The Château de Lionne is a wine estate that covers 37 hectares. The Château is located in the commune of Illats in the center of the Graves, between the Girondine moorland forest, the Garonne and the Ciron. This geographical situation allows the domain to benefit from very harsh winters, very hot summers and sometimes we are entitled to some surprises like spring frosts. Véronique Smati decided to take over Château de Lionne in 2007. The estate receives the most attentive care possible to give back to this vintage its letters of nobility. Véronique Smati has surrounded herself with the best team to bottle the Graves terroir. Grégory Dalla Longa, trained by Denis Dubourdieu is the oenologist of the Château. We produce mainly Red Graves and White Graves, blended wines from Bordeaux grape varieties. For the reds, depending on the vintage, we use Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot in different proportions. For the white wines, the Semillon is often the majority of the grapes used, combined with the Sauvignon Blanc. The soils of Château de Lionne are divided into two entities: sandy-gravel soils with good drainage and coolness, which are suitable for white grape varieties and Merlot, and beautiful deep Graves soils which give the later grape varieties the optimal maturity. Our credo: let nature and fruit express themselves.