On the top of the Saint Philippe d’Aiguilhe plateau, the highest point of the Bordeaux region at the height of 100 m, Château Goubau appears at the bend in the yew-planted road that winds through the vineyard.
Two big hunting dogs come to welcome me, soon followed by their masters.
Béa and Stéphane Goubau come from from Belgium. Great connoisseurs and collectors of wines from all corners of the world, they have always had a weakness for the fineness and complexity of the Bordeaux wines. And one day: “A friend called us on a Monday morning to tell us about a lovely little Château in Bordeaux that was for sale. So we came to have a look …” Stéphane remembers. During their first visit in May 2005, the couple immediately falls in love with the place, the terroir, the people and the infrastructure. The soils of the vineyard, a direct extension of the plateau that hosts the greatest domains of Saint-Emilion, are of exceptional quality. Even if it is permanently exposed to the sun, the vineyard enjoys a continuous gentle breeze, which helps to avoid overheating of the grapes and to rapidly evaporate the stagnant humidity of the morning. Furthermore, the clay and limestone subsoil enables an optimal water regulation which keeps freshness in the roots and makes the plants more resistant to drought. It is for the Goubau the occasion to turn their passion for wine into the creation of their own product. The decision does not wait: “We bought it right away!”
Béa and Stéphane Goubau
But if the terroir of Château Gerbaÿ—as it was then called—is perfectly suited for the production of a quality wine, the former owner used to sell mainly bulk wines and privileged quantity. Transformations were necessary! In a very first time, to symbolize the revival of the Domain, the couple renames it “Château Goubau”. Then they undertake huge renovations and heavy investments in equipment of which an exceptional tool imported from Italy and unique in Bordeaux: 2 horizontal 100-hectolitre stainless steel vats Oenomost, with rotational blades which ensure an automatic continuous total immersion of the must and the regulated injection of oxygen. With an electronic setting of temperature for each vat, these ultrasophisticated installations enable an immediate cooling of the must continuously. Only just 20 estates in the world have such equipment!
“But the biggest transformation and most of the work, Stéphane confirms, have taken place in the vineyards. We restructured them completely. We wanted to make wine in the way we thought fair, it is to say that we adopted an organic approach. Of course we wanted to make good wine, it was thus necessary to work the vineyard and to reduce the yield to harvest quality instead of quantity. We raised the trellis of the vine stocks to increase the leaf surface area thus enabling a better photosynthesis.”
