Château Gombaude-Guillot
” Bio, Rock and Pomerol ”
Château Gombaude-Guillot is a family winery in Pomerol. It covers 7.65 hectares, of which 7.40 hectares are planted with vines (65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec). The average annual production is 35,000 bottles divided into 4 labels: Château Gombaude-Guillot, Pom’ N’ Roll, Clos Plince and Cadet de Gombaude.
Currently the property is managed in Organic Agriculture by Olivier Techer , 6th generation of a winemaker family originally based in Néac. The property was built up over time by the purchase or donation of the plot. The first plot was acquired thanks to a dowry given in the 1860s. At the time the land was not worth much and the wine market not being what it is today the estate was conducted in polyculture. However a major part of the land was dedicated to the cultivation of the vine. The house which today constitutes ‘the chateau’ was bought in 1920. It was nothing more or less than the old village cafe which was built in 1898 at the same time as the church in Pomerol. Meet Olivier Techer, passionate and committed winemaker.
Why did you choose to make wine ?
Olivier Techer: I haven’t always done this. Until 2008/2009 I worked in a completely different sector (cooking, security, etc.) but when my father told me that he was thinking of retiring, the question arose whether to take over family activity. Not knowing if that interested me I chose to do a training (BPREA specialty viti-oeno) over a year to see if I liked it or not. I did different internships, including here and I loved it! It is in particular the smells of my childhood that reappeared for me … they had a Madeleine de Proust effect. In 2010 I got to the heart of the matter by making my first vinifications.
Where does the name Gombaude-Guillot come from ?
O.T.: Quite simply from the name of two of our plots. We have one called Gombaude, probably in tribute to the Chevalier de Gombaude. The other plot is located in the sector towards Le Pin, La Fleur. It is registered in the cadastre as a place called Guillot but we do not really have an explanation on the name.
Could you define for me what wine means to you ? O.T.: It is a great cultural heritage. It is a product which is absolutely not necessary for life in itself but which is like art, it can be very beautiful and quite incredible. Wine is the product of a wild plant that is domesticated and which produces a terroir product. It must resemble the place where it was born, be its ambassador but it must also provide an emotion. I love and I always find it more interesting to taste a wine and to be able to rediscover its region, its soil… in short, its terroir !
What is the signature of Gombaude-Guillot wines ?
O.T.: The more the vintages pass, the more I try to step aside in the cellar… to pick grapes on the right date (whether they are fresh and ripe) and behind them to vinify them with little artifice and a lot of rigor.
All this allows me to have racy wines, authentic wines. I try to ensure that barrel aging has the least possible impact on my wines. I want the wood to be there to support the wine but not to dominate it. The fruit must remain in the first place !
On my influence I was just trying to have as little as possible … I do not want a technical wine or a wine marked by a style. I want my wines to reflect the terroir from which they come as closely as possible. Still with this idea in mind, I sulfite very little, less than 30mg.
In continuation of this logic of respect for my terroir, I lead the vineyard in organic farming and I have also implemented a whole strategy to limit the carbon impact of my activity. For example, I try to increase the French share of sales, I do not move on shows at the other end of the world… Note that we have been producing in AB since 1997. At the time, organic did not have the same publicity as today… many took my parents for crazy.
What makes the specificity of your terroir ?
O.T.: I don’t know if it’s unique to Pomerol but we have a clay subsoil which varies between 0 and 1 meter depending on the places and the plots. On the surface we have gravels which will drain water well and lead it to clay. In winter we have this clay which will swell with water and store it which will allow the vine to have reserves so as not to suffer from the summer heat. With the changes in the climate we know, namely increasingly dry and hot summers, this is a big advantage. These are fairly warm soils because the gravel captures the heat. The grapes ripen very quickly. Pomerol is one of the earliest terroirs in Bordeaux.
Do you have specific projects for Château Gombaude-Guillot ?
O.T.: Yes, two main ones. The first is to gradually increase the proportion of Malbec and Cabernet Franc to the detriment of Merlot, in particular because of the first effects linked to climate change (increasingly hot and dry summers). The second project I would like to carry out is the development of a wine tourism offer in the area.
Do you have an anecdote ?
O.T.: In 2010 after having made a tour of representation for my wines, an importer offered to go with him to a party which took place in a Quebec forest to taste Gombaude -Guillot. Once there, a person in his sixties came to see me saying that he knew the property well because he had come in 1994 with his wife for their honeymoon. This person had not come there for me but it made me touched to see that our property had been remembered.
• Château Gombaude-Guillot 3 Chemin les Grandes Vignes, 33500 Pomerol, France www.chateau-gombaude-guillot.fr