Château La Bridane is a vineyard of 15 hectares owned by the families Blancan and Saintout for nearly three centuries. It partly encircles the west of the village of Saint-Julien. It is located on top of the hill overlooking the estuary and the Grands Crus. The wine has a very long finish and is  easily identifiable by its original fragrance which essence is taken from a sandy under grounds of Graves. The highlight of the winery besides a very skilled, motivated and nice team is the location of its vineyards, which are situated in one of the best places in the Médoc, quite close to the river in a geographical area where all neighbor vineyards are grand Crus. The peculiarity of this Château is that it is run by a family working under the label "Vigneron Independent" which, more than a quality criterion represents a philosophy of Protection of the areas which wish to work independently (bottling on the estate, vinifying and maturing their wine themselves ...)

The vines and the work carried on in the vineyards

The grape varieties which constitute the vinyard are the following: Cabarnet Sauvignon (47%), Merlot (36%), Cabernet Franc (13%) and Petit Verdot (4%). As soon as the ripening begins, the owners practice a manual leaf-thinning and a green harvest is done on some of the vine plants if they happen to be to dense. In the optic to always harvest at the perfect moment, the owners use mechanical harvesting methods, which was very useful in the years 2011 and 2012. The drawback is the lack of selection of the grapes, but  the advantage resides in a precise harvest done just at the right time. However, the grapes are manually selected at the end of the harvest. Thus, everything is done in order to make a quality wine adapted to the size of the wine estate.

The cellars and the maturation process

The cellars are perfectly adapted to the realization of a high quality wine in a sane environment. The fermentation process is done in small inxo vats or cement tanks, which is ideal in order to control the temperature and therefore realizing a high precision work.  All tanks are thermoregulated as well. The wine estate uses a oneumatic press and the cellars are entirely air-conditioned. The finning is done the tradiotional way using egg white, and the owners do not filtrate their wine, in order to create a grand wine. At last, the maturation process is done in another part of the wine estate, in a smaller yet beautiful cellar for a duration from 9 to 16 month depending on the vintage. They are using 65% of new barrels and 35% already used for an other vintage. The team responsible for the cellars is dynamic and qualified, and the quality of the wine is absolutely remarkable for its price range.