Family history
Château Mauvinon has been in Tribaudeau family since 1962. In 1990, Philippe et Brigitte Tribaudeau took over removing the production from the Saint Emilion cooperative to make and market the wines themselves. It was a big life, Philippe resigned as a lawyer in 1995 to work full time at the property. Brigitte, with her background in Molecular Biology, is passionate about soil health, protecting the natural environment and creating and passing on a living vineyard to future generations as well as offering a healthy working environment to the current generation. Now their children, the third generation of the family, are working with them at the property.
They all share both a love of nature and an affection for the 19th century château which is their family home as well as the wine cellar. The property covers 6.5ha of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru vines, certified organic since 2020 and they adhere to the principles of biodynamic viticulture.
Mauvinon’s vision
The wines are dominated by Merlot with some Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon decided vintage by vintage following tastings. Hand-picked and hand crafted thanks to plot by plot vinification in stainless steel vats and barrel ageing, organic with no added sulphites. Alongside the Château Mauvinon a special Cuvée, Gabriel Lauzat ,was introduced in 2008, to honour the founding father and original wine maker of the family from French Algeria. Picked at night from a selection of the top grapes from the best plots aged in 100% new oak.
Mauvinon’s experience
Visit to the property always start in the vines sharing this passion for soils and you can taste the wines sitting under an ancient Chestnut tree overlooking the vines.
The best view however is high up from the roof terrace of Château Mauvinon. It is called “Le Nichoir” or nesting box, as it is designed as a place to observe and welcome the abundant bird life of the property. The elimination of pesticides and insecticides, planting of trees and hedges and experimenting with cover crops have all increased the biodiversity of the estate and created ideal conditions for birds to flourish.
With a glass of wine in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other, guests can observe and do their best to identify the diversity of bird life on the property. Château Mauvinon is the apology of slow tourism and that is one of the reason why the won the Regional Best Of Wine Tourism Award this year in the sustainable wine tourism practices.
The chateau doesn’t only welcome wine and bird lovers. They have a fully equipped reception room, that can host up to 20 people. Furnished with recycled and recuperated material it is perfectly in keeping with their sustainable philosophy. It’s not all work and no play for attendees, they can also become wine makers for a day and make their own Bordeaux Blend to take home and savour the memory of a day at the heart of a green vineyard.
Wendy Narby
Photos credits : ©Château Mauvinon Video credits : ©Nader Fakhry Additionnal information : Château Mauvinon