Château Palais Cardinal

Family vineyard where innovation is at the service of tradition. The exploitation was implemented in 1850 by Mr Lambège, under the name of Château Moulin de Cassagne 1er Cru Saint Emilion. In 1947, Mr. Fretier became the owner of the vineyard and named it Château Palais Cardinal, in relation to the location of his winery in the outbuildings of the Palais Cardinal. If the vine has always had its place here, the vineyard has experienced a major turning point between 2008 and today with Nicolas Ballande, co-manager of the family business.
The Château's vineyard, located in the commune of Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens, extends south of Saint-Emilion on alluvial, clay, gravel and sandy soil, drained by the stream "La Fuie".
The parcels are located in the following areas: Cateau (next to the first parcel of Château Valandraud - 1er Grand Cru Classé), Montbousquet (Grand Cru Classé) and Bigaroux. All the terroirs of Palais Cardinal give it a unique identity!
The vines, with an average age of 40 years, are composed of Merlot (73%), Cabernet Sauvignon (23%) and Cabernet Franc (4%) which flourish on a 30-hectare terroir where biodiversity is the order of the day, returning to a culture close to that of our great-grandparents (Agroforestry.) A return to tradition that goes hand in hand with innovation: - Sorting of the berries by densimetry: Machine intended to obtain by successive sorting of the berries an irreproachable quality. Atypical barrels: Steam heating in order to preserve the identity of our terroirs and to highlight the fruit. - Amphoras : 100% Mono-varietal, 100% Amphora, 100% exclusive - Viti Rover : Robot mower in the vineyards to limit human intervention / Tractors in our plots.

Our story

"As the grandson of winegrowers, I always had the chance to run around in the vineyards, to dream in the cellars or to play hide-and-seek with my cousins in the middle of the barrels (much to the displeasure of our grandparents), and this is what made me want to get involved in the wine industry. It is when we discovered with my father and my brother "Palais Cardinal" that we felt an exceptional potential in this field. "I was lucky enough to be entrusted with the reins in 2018; Each day is now a nod to our roots, a desire and a need to go further, to make you rediscover the aromas of the terroirs Saint Emilion, the freshness of our wines. Each year an innovation comes to join the vines or the cellar of Palais Cardinal in order to perpetually leave our comfort zone. Palais Cardinal in a word? Identity."