Lamothe Bergeron, on the top of the Médoc

Chloé&Wines 15 Février 2019 …

Château Lamothe Bergeron today

This is a premonitory name... As a lot of Châteaux in the Médoc, the name is double : the name of the place or a hint about it and the name of the (first) owner. Well, Château Lamothe Bergeron is so Médoc and so trendy right now with an unique wine tourism offer...

Lamothe is "la motte" in french which means a little piece of land slightly high. It's like a clod. And (Jacques de ) Bergeron is one of the most famous owner of the Château who was first working in politics and who then decided to quit this exciting life to focus on his vineyard. He was really involved and studied agronomy. He became famous because of a grafting's technic : the Bergeron method. It was around 1773.

The family Bergeron will keep the Château until 1850. The new owner built the Château you can see and visit today in 1868. Mister d'Armana decided also to pay tribute to Jacques de Bergeron by transforming the name of the Château : it officially became Château Lamothe Bergeron.

The Château changed owners several times. Like a lot of Châteaux in Bordeaux, it was really important to deal with the vineyard which is the main source of income. The Château, the building, is secondary. So when the Cognac House H. Mounier & Hardy bought the Château in 2009, they had a lot of renovations to do.

Well, you have to imagine that no one was living in the Château : so some thieves came to "borrow" the fire place or even the main stairs ! Everything was in stone and it's quite expensive... As consequence, the Château has been refurbished and the design is just incredible ! 18 months of renovation were needed. The group asked also to Hubert de Bouärd, famous flying winemaker, to be the consultant in 2009 : the goal was to create an elegant and gourmand wine. The Château Lamothe Bergeron is often 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. The team likes to say that it's a wine close to Saint Julien's style with the price of the Haut Médoc... And it's true : the price of the bottle is around 20 euros depending on the vintage for sure.

The pink and purple vat room

But what I really like at Château Lamothe Bergeron is the visit... So you are going to say that I am not really fun but well, it's my job to talk about wine tourism. And I can tell you that this visit is very cool to experience. The best of wines tourism agrees with me as they awarded the Château in 2016 for this visit !

Imagine you arrive at the Château : it is so cute, like a Princess Fairy Tale castle. And when you go inside, it's very modern and design but you still have a nice flair. It's not without any soul. It seems to be like a curiosity cabinet : some butterflies or stuffed animals... It's a different ambiance of what you can see in the Médoc. The team of the Château will welcome you : Anne Melchior is the wine tourism head manager. She is really nice and obviously she loves her job and the winery. Your guide will introduce the history of the Château and you will meet Jacques de Bergeron... But no spoiler, I can't tell you why, when and how you will meet him.

Then, you will go outside in what we can call an observatory "hut" where you will have a nice view on the vineyard. What is really amazing is that they decided to freeze some berries of Merlot and of Cabernet Sauvignon from the past harvests so you can taste them. Yes, all year long, you will be able to experience the taste of these two important grapes. If you didn't get your breakfast, well it's the perfect visit to start the day !

After this fresh air break, you will go in the cellars : it's dark and we don't really see something. The pink and purple lights will transform this vat room, giving to it a glance of modernity. Because yes, it's just stainless still vats : nothing to be amaze off. But with this ceremonial, it's quite different, especially when you arrive in front of the magic vat !

A magic vat ? Yes, magic ! Do you know what we call projection mapping ? It's a way to transform an object (so here a vat) into a display surface for a video projection. Usually you can see it during festivals where churches or museums are used to tell a story or just to enhance their architecture. It's very interesting. So here, at Château Lamothe Bergeron, the magic vat will explain how the process of winemaking is done.

After this chapter, you will visit the barrel rooms. During the whole visit in the cellars, you are in a semi-darkness : so you are focus on the main interests - the vats or the barrels. An other surprise is waiting for you. To understand the secrets of blending, you will be able to meet the director Laurent Mery and Hubert de Bouärd !

Now, you are ready to taste some wine ! Château Lamothe Bergeron has several visits :

- Discovery (8 euros per person)

- Wine Enthusiast (12 euros per person)

- VIP (25 euros per person)

But also experiences :

- Bacchus sleep (12 euros per person)

- Macarons wine tour (18 euros per person)

- Wine enthusiast and lunch in the garden (30 euros to 50 euros per person)

Last year, I tried the Bacchus sleep in the garden for a bachelorette party : it was very nice. You will have your glass of wine just in front the Château, almost sleepy in sun loungers...

You can find out more informations on the website : www.lamothebergeron.com

Don't hesitate to follow my adventures on Instagram chloeandwines : you will be able to see some pictures of the Châteaux and the different experiences.