Château Cazebonne

The vineyard lies on the gravel terraces that give the Graves its name, layered over clay and the ochre sands the white's name points to. Gravel drains fast and holds the day's heat, which suits Cabernet Sauvignon; the clay pockets and the cooler sand hold water for Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris. The estate is planted in two blocks, a larger one in red and a smaller one in white, with a growing patchwork of heritage varieties between them.

The cellar leans natural: native yeasts, low or no added sulphur on several cuvées, and a mix of vessels that includes terracotta amphorae alongside barrels and tanks. Argile Ocre blends Sémillon with Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris, raised for texture rather than oak flavour. The reds are made for drinkability first, with Cabernet Sauvignon carrying the structure and Merlot and Cabernet Franc filling it out.

Cazebonne's project is to show that Bordeaux was never only five grapes. The estate has replanted dozens of historic varieties, Castets, Mancin, Bouchalès, Saint-Macaire and Jurançon Noir among them, and makes a cuvée named Comme en 1900 to prove the point. It belongs to the loose group of growers sometimes called the Bordeaux pirates, who farm organically, keep prices honest and break the region's codes where the codes get in the way of good wine.

The property is old. It belonged in the seventeenth century to Gabriel Nicolas de La Reynie, the first lieutenant-general of police of Paris, and by 1700 to Pierre de Castelnau, royal counsellor and mayor of Langon, whose family kept it through the nineteenth century. Jean-Baptiste Duquesne, who had founded the recipe site 750g and written a history of Bordeaux's grape varieties, bought it in 2016 with the winemaker David Poutays and began the conversion and the replanting the following year.

Argile Ocre, Graves blanc: Sémillon with Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris, waxy and citrus-edged, a white with real grip for the table. Amitié, Graves rouge: Cabernet Sauvignon-led with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, dark-fruited and fresh, the estate's wine for friends.