Château des Antonins

The Château des Antonins is housed in a 13th century convent that was built for the monks of the order of Saint Antoine. After the French Revolution, the property passed into the Roquefeuil family, and in 1985 Geoffroy and Martine Roquefeuil took over this historic property along with its vineyards. The domaine is located in Pondaurat on the left bank of the Garonne near the Graves appellation. The domaine consists of 24 hectares of red grapes, and 3 hectares of white within the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations. The reds are planted 53% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc. The white vineyards are 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. The final blend for the red and white wines varies each year according to the harvest.

Sustainable farming. The name of the estate « Chateau des Antonins » comes from the St Antoine hospitallers whom established themselves in this former convent around the 13th century. The monastic order was founded to heal patients suffering from St Anthony’s fire – later called ergotic poisoning. The monks treated this illness thanks to healthier food – the famous saint Antoine’s pig – but more importantly thanks to the concoction of a secret drink with extraordinary therapeutic properties. The Saint Vinage is made with a wine base mixed with herbs.  The Antonins’s commandery still remains an halt to the pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Santiago de Compostella. Of this era remains a fine collection of buildings dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries including; the convent, chapel, the “toll” bridge, the water mill, all listed as “historical monuments”. In 1985, Geoffroy de Roquefeuil revive the the winemaking traditions of the hospitallers. He gradually restructured the old monks’ estate and joined the Abbeys Wines association. In 2016, Antoine, the aptly named, joins the family team and takes care of all the production.