Our fifth 2025 event will be on Thursday 11th September 2025 when we will have a chai tour and tasting at Château de Portets, 33640 Portets, on the left bank of the Garonne and some 30 km SE of Bordeaux. This will be followed by a lunch at Cambes.
Chairman Greg remarks that this follows a very successful visit to France Truffes. He hopes to see even more members and friends at this event. Members should contact him directly if they wish to attend.
Wine has been produced in Portets for over 2000 years. From 1587, the château fort and surrounding area was governed by the barons de Gascq. When in 1781 the direct male line died out, the estate was sold to the Séguineau de Lognac family, in whose ownership it remained until the end of the nineteenth century.
Visited in July 1808 by Napoleon on his way back from Spain to Bordeaux, it was requisitioned by the Germans in 1940 and subsequently abandoned. Ten years of neglect and decay were to pass before it was purchased in 1956 by Jules Théron, grandfather of the present owner, and restoration work began.
OUS South West France 