chai du château de Lagueloup

English translation

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History

The Lagueloup château is located at Portets, in the Graves vineyard. It comprises several buildings erected on a site known since Antiquity: a seventeenth-century house altered in the nineteenth century, a stable, a horse-swimming pool and a wine cellar, also built in the nineteenth century. The estate is crossed by canals opening into basins reused as wash-houses or water troughs. The most important element, by its geographical position at the centre of the estate, its dimensions and its important functions, is the wine cellar. It is equipped with modern installations for the period specially adapted to the building. Restored in 2001, its central part has been transformed into a wine and vine museum. Alongside the equipment from the late 1920s still in place, it presents an important collection of tools and viticultural and winemaking equipment from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, from the estate and the region. Also present are numerous archived documents from the Descacq and then Severac families, former owners of Lagueloup. Part of the material from the late 1920s is still used for fermentation and storage.

Description

This wine cellar is laid out according to the principle of the Médoc wine cellar, with fermentation done in large vats. The building is in the form of a large quadrilateral on two levels (of 1650 m2 each) plus a level of underground vats. It is divided into four bays which communicate with each other by large doors. A wooden porch extends in front of the two central bays and precedes the main entrance. All external openings are round arch and the doors are double to maintain a constant temperature. A modern wooden staircase is found beneath this porch. It provides access to the two central bays of the first floor, transformed into a museum by the current owner. The 1928 machinery is still in place. These are modern installations for the period, specimens ordered for the Lagueloup estate. The wine cellar is equipped with Decauville railway tracks, on which small wagons transport grapes in vats and send the refuse stems outward by means of a jib equipped with a mechanical winch. These large-capacity vats (300 hectolitres each) number eight and are built of concrete covered inside with glazed terracotta tiles. The ground floor, still used for viticultural production needs, is likewise divided into four bays communicating with each other by large doors. The whole is supported by columns and metal purlins, reinforced by concrete beams. This level comprises in particular a barrel cellar (containing 600 barrels) and a bottle cellar. The barrel cellar, at the time one of the most important in Gironde, has mobile electric lighting on rails. This system, restored, existed from the 1930s. The bottle cellar, half-underground, is equipped with large-dimension iron racking. A third level consists of a series of six underground vats of 500 hectolitres each, connected to each other by a system of wells and piping. Four of these vats are still in working order. The cleaning of all these elements was made possible by the installation from the start of spring water supply. The south-west bay, located at the entrance to the estate, was also restored and is currently used as a place for welcoming the public and selling the estate's products.