Château Angludet

After the majority of the Chateau d’Angludet vineyard was destroyed by the 1956 frost, the owners gave up on winemaking at their Medoc vineyard and replanted the vineyards with wheat and barley.

The owner thought that type of agriculture would make him more money than growing grapes for making Bordeaux wine. He ended up selling Chateau d’Angludet in 1961 to Diana and Peter Sichel.

The Sichel family were already well-known Bordeaux negociants who own the firm Maison Sichel and also maintain a large ownership stake in Chateau Palmer. The Sichel family has deep roots in Bordeaux, having been there since 1883. At the time of the purchase, the vineyards of d’Angludet were in such poor shape due to the frost of 1956, that less than 7 hectares were still planted to vines. That is not the case any longer.

The Sichel’s invested large sums of money to bring d’Angludet back into shape. They replanted the vineyards, adding more Petit Verdot to the vineyard, and completely renovated and modernized their wine-making facilities. The Sichel family still owns and manages Chateau d’Angludet today.

Chateau d’Angludet was one of the first estates in the Left Bank to embrace green harvesting, hoping to reduce yields naturally. That practice started in 1988. d’Angludet has another first to their credit, they were one of the first estates in the Medoc to practice ecological pest control as well as to practice green harvesting.

Chateau d’Angludet Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes Winemaking

The 32 hectare vineyard of Chateau d’Angludet is part of a much larger property, which is 81 hectares in total. The vineyard is planted to 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 13% Petit Verdot. This shows a decrease in the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, which was compensated by adding more Merlot and Petit Verdot since the mid-1990s. The Cabernet Franc vines have all been removed.

The vines are planted to a density of 6,666 vines per hectare to 7,300 vines per hectare. The terroir is mostly sand, gravel, and clay soils. The vines are located inland, in the southwest corner of the Margaux appellation.