Domaines Fabre

Bordeaux · France

Based in Cissac-Médoc since 1964, the Fabre family grows, makes and sells its own Haut-Médoc and Margaux wines, without going through the négoce.

Certifications

1964 Gabriel Fabre acquires Château Lamothe-Cissac
33 ha Château Lamothe-Cissac vineyard
1876 Official map recording 76 plots on the estate
4 Generations of the family working the vines

I · The story

A family affair

Remains of a Roman villa discovered near the château show that this terroir was already known for its wines in Antiquity. In the 19th century, the Lamothe property belonged to Monsieur d'Elbauve, who also owned the former Vertheuil Abbey. An official map dated 1876 records 76 plots there, making up a 30-hectare vineyard.

When Gabriel Fabre, back from Morocco, bought the estate in 1964, wine production had ceased. He first restored the vineyard and rebuilt the vat house: the 33 hectares of Château Lamothe-Cissac were planted from April 1967 onwards, on a clay-limestone rise and a gravel “motte”. Vincent Fabre took over the management of the estate in 1991.

From the outset, the family chose to grow, vinify, age and sell its wines directly, without the négoce. Alongside Château Lamothe-Cissac, Domaines Fabre now includes Château Bellevue de Tayac, a Cru Bourgeois in Margaux, as well as a range of freer-spirited cuvées such as Fabre on the Rocks, 100% Malbec.

Domaines Fabre, La famille Fabre debout dans les vignes, ciel bleu

“What gives a wine its value is not its price, but the pleasure and emotion it brings.”

Vincent Fabre

II · The terroirs

Between Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe

The Château Lamothe-Cissac vineyard lies partly in the commune of Cissac, bordering the Pauillac appellation, and partly on the Vertheuil plateau, on the edge of Saint-Estèphe. The soils are clay-limestone and clayey gravel, over a subsoil of deep gravel. The vines average 30 years of age.

In Margaux, Château Bellevue de Tayac farms 4.5 hectares of gravel over clay. The appellation covers five communes, on Garonne gravels laid down in rises by the river during the Quaternary era: gravelly, well-drained soils that encourage the vines to root deeply.

AOC Haut-Médoc
AOC Margaux
AOC Pauillac

Vue aérienne du château et de ses vignes dans le Médoc

Flagship estates

I
Château Lamothe-Cissac
AOC Haut-Médoc, Cru Bourgeois, 33 hectares in Cissac-Médoc
II
Château Bellevue de Tayac
AOC Margaux, Cru Bourgeois, 4.5 hectares
III
Château La Tonnelle
Family property

Also in the familyChâteau Chantecler | AOC Pauillac, 23-hectare vineyard farmed by Yannick Mirande

Domaines Fabre, Façade du château avec la tour, moutons qui pâturent au premier plan (carré)

Domaines Fabre, Main tenant une grappe de raisin blanc dans les rangs de vigne (portrait)

III · The craft

Balance above all

At Château Lamothe-Cissac, the aim is a balance of finesse, drinkability and power, and each vintage calls for its own approach to winemaking. Two pump-overs a day extract colour and tannins during macerations of four to five weeks. Éric Boissenot and his team have been the consulting oenologists for many years. Traditional ageing lasts about twelve months, punctuated by rackings decided by tasting.

In the vineyard, leaf removal, cover crops between the rows and green harvesting keep yields in check. Since 2020, a flock of Landes sheep has tended the plots naturally. Hedges are planted to protect biodiversity and beneficial fauna, and the first plots of white grape varieties resistant to downy and powdery mildew are being farmed under organic conversion.