In 2006 Georges Dadda and Corinne Leveilley arrived urgently at Château Panigon, taking over the family vineyard. A revolution was necessary to emancipate the asleep estate and assert its elegance. It has been done in a velvet glove. Their two Crus Bourgeois collect medals every year and are sent across the world.
Before being a winemaker, Corinne used to create and sell luxury linen for the Elysée and Georges worked in communication. “Taking over my father-in-law's vineyard has fascinated us. It was necessary to rethink everything, the vines, the cellar, the wines did not even have the Cru Bourgeois label anymore! My stepfather ran out of energy towards the end. It was necessary to change the quality of the wines and modernize everything,” Georges Dadda explains. The couple takes up the challenge, replanting, renewing the vat room, setting up rigorous specifications, and calling on Eric Boissenot to develop the wines.
The new influence is felt immediately. In 2008, the wine returns to the rank of Crus Bourgeois, gets in 2016 the HVE - High Environmental Value – certification and collects the medals. “Four to five on average per wine! Gold, silver, bronze ...Both our cuvées are sold by Bordeaux's trade. 80% of our wines are exported, particularly to Asian markets. Medals are an important element for these markets. But there was a downturn because of tense international relations that slowed down the sales sales. We are 270 Crus Bourgeois in the Médoc, we must fight every day, both on the qualitative field and on the commercial side. Our wines are positioned in the high range for traders, it's about staying on top of quality and making steady progress. Here, in AOC Médoc, we are far from the 1,000 euros the bottle that can cross some famous chateaus! Many family estates are forced to lower their guard over quality, the selling price prohibiting any investment ...”.
The exploitation, of a nice unit of 53 ha, produces two distinct cuvées, both classified Crus Bourgeois: Château Amour and Château Panigon, for a total of about 350,000 bottles. The vineyard, 45% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 50% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, is located on gravelly hills worthy of the best terroirs of the Medoc and benefits from the Atlantic influences of the nearby Ocean, and the presence of the estuary of the Gironde, creating together the favorable climatic conditions for the development of the grape varieties and the good maturity of the grapes.
Here, no first nor second wine, the two brands correspond to two different identities. One, Panigon, whose name is derived from a Rabelais character of unfulfilled drinker, is against all odds the classic Cru Bourgeois in respect of the Medocan tradition, elegant, precise, deep. Château Amour, name of a plot of land of the estate, plays on a more charming, immediate and gourmet side. For the romantic anecdote, 400-year-old plane trees form a heart at the entrance of the 18th-century château ...
Bénédicte Chapard
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