Château Couronneau

Christophe and Bénédicte Piat live in France in an isolated spot in the country not far from the pretty little town of Bergerac. In 1994, they bought Château Couronneau in the municipality of Ligueux on the eastern edge of the AOC Bordeaux region. The six-strong family took 20 years to transform the run-down château into a fabulous fairytale castle that sets every wine-lover’s heart beating faster.

When you visit Château Couronneau, you drive along a dusty road, through an impressive avenue of cypresses, up to the 15th-century castle with its striking round towers. Here, you are quickly immersed in a different world. A quiet, natural oasis that the Piat family found after Christoph had had enough of his nerve-racking job as a broker in the rough world of the Bordeaux wine trade.

The château houses twelve stylish rooms, which the friendly couple are happy to entrust to their regular customers for a short stay in an idyllic landscape with a stud farm. The château is surrounded by 38 hectares of vines that have been organically cultivated since 1999 and biodynamically since 2009. The variety that thrives predominantly on the loamy, chalky soil is Merlot. There are also 1.5 hectares each of Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris. The new vineyards belong to the new Appellation Sainte-Foy Côtes de Bordeaux.

From the manually harvested grapes and with the help of an oenologist, Christophe Piat produces authentic wines that repeatedly win awards at important international competitions. Only a few Bordeaux châteaux manage to produce wines in harmony with nature that boast comparable value for money.