Considered the wine capital of Médoc, the port town of Pauillac lies on the left bank of the Gironde River in South-West France, between the appellations of Saint-Estèphe et Saint-Julien. Established in 1936, the AOC Pauillac designation brings together 37 wine estates. 18 of these are categorised as Grands Crus Classés, accounting for 85% of production in the area, three hold Premiers Grands Crus Classés status (Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild, Latour and Mouton-Rothschild), and some produce bourgeois and artisan wines.
Located in the heart of Médoc and stretching the length of the Gironde Estuary, the mostly sandy gravel-based soils of Pauillac are planted with cabernet, sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, carménère and malbec.
Thanks to its proximity to the Gironde Estuary, the Pauillac area is blessed with an ideal microclimate for grapevine production.
With its exceptional geological and climatic conditions, Pauillac’s 1200 hectares of vineyards are among the most prestigious on the planet.
The wine-growing region of Pauillac is split into two separate areas by the Gahet stream: the North, sitting at 30 meters above sea level on the Pouyalet plateau, and the South, known as Saint-Lambert.
An average of 8 million bottles per year are produced from its 1200 hectares of vines. Yet, Pauillac only accounts for 7.5% of all vines in Médoc.
We have adopted responsible and Haute Valeur Environnementale 3-certified wine-making practices at our Château Batailley vineyard. We have made a concerted effort to improve soil drainage and yields.
We taste the grapes on all of our plots prior to collection to determine the optimal harvest date.
Our harvest teams, under the authority of our vineyard managers, harvest the grapes from our plots when fully ripe.
Our property teams then carry out an initial sorting of these grapes directly at the vines.
The grapes are sorted for a second time as soon as they reach the cellars. They are then destemmed, crushed and placed in heat-regulated vats (100-130 hl).
This is quickly followed by cold alcoholic fermentation (24-26°), initiating the transformation of sugar into alcohol. Once this process is complete, hot post-fermentation maceration (30-32°) refines the tannins.
Depending on the taste, we will then drain and press the marc. This process is followed by malolactic fermentation in barrels and vats to try to reduce the wine’s acidity. The wine-making process usually lasts 20-25 days.
Our wines are aged in French oak barrels once malolactic fermentation is complete. Each year, 60% of the barrels we use are new and 40% are recycled from previous years. Our wines are kept in barrels for at least 12 months. Our wines are clarified with egg white over the last six months before bottling.
Our wines are racked every three to four months according to their taste. Before blending, all of our batches are tasted separately, then classified according to the qualities for our first (Le Château Batailley), second (Lions de Batailley) and third wines (Pauillac de Batailley).
