Château Couhins is a Bordeaux wine

Bordeaux wine

A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...

 from the Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan is a French wine appellation, within the Graves subregion of the Bordeaux wine region. Both red and white wine is produced within the appellation, which consists of 10 communes: Cadaujac, Canéjan, Gradignan, Léognan, Martillac, Mérignac, Pessac, Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, Talence and...

 appellation

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

, ranked among the Premiers Crus for dry white wine in the Classification of Graves wine

Classification of Graves wine

The wines of Graves in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux were classified in 1953 by a jury appointed by Institute Nacional des Appellations d'Origine, and approved by the Minister of Agriculture in August of that year. The selection was revised with a few additions in February 1959...

 of 1959. The winery

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 is located in close vicinity of the city of Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

, in the commune of Villenave-d'Ornon

Villenave-d'Ornon

Villenave d'Ornon is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is the fourth-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is located to its south side...

.

The estate also produces a red Grand vin, red and dry white second wine

Second wine

Second wine is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from cuvee not selected for use in the Grand vin or first label...

s named Couhins La Gravette, and a red third wine, La Dame de Couhins.

History

Once a large and celebrated estate, owned by the Gasqueton and Hanappier families, it became the property of Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique

Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique

The Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique is a French public research institute dedicated to scientific studies surrounding the problems of agriculture...

(INRA) in 1968. The institute conducts some of its research on grape and wine production at the estate. A smaller portion was sold on to André Lurton, now an estate named Château Couhins-Lurton

Château Couhins-Lurton

Château Couhins-Lurton is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, ranked among the Premiers Crus for dry white wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1959...

.

Production

The vineyard area is divided between 7 hectares with white grape varieties of 85% Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

 and 15% Sémillon

Sémillon

Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...

 and 15 hectares with red grape varieties of 50% Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, 9% Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...

 and 1% Petit Verdot

Petit verdot

Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...

.

Of the Grand vin Château Couhins dry white there is annually produced 20,000 bottles, and of the red 30,000 bottles. Of the second wines Couhins la Gravette there is produced 30,000 bottles of red and 8,000 bottles of dry white, and 5,000 bottles of the red third wine La Dame de Couhins.

External links

• Château Couhins official site