The origins of this Saint-Estèphe based estate go back to the XVIIIth century, out of a wedding between the Rivière and Capbern families, and then Capbern and Gasqueton. A few years later, in 1894, the Capbern-Gasqueton purchase a certain… Calon Ségur! Generations succeeded to each other at the head of these two mythical crus of Saint-Estèphe until 2011, which marks the passing of Denise Gasqueton, last owner carrying that name. It is then that Suravenir purchases these estates and blows a new dynamic, with the respect of the history.
Capbern’s terroir features an extraordinary qualitative breeding ground, in the proper nature of the soils. The soils, well exposed and slightly sloping, favor the perfect maturation of the berries and benefit from a good draining.
Under the same management as Calon Ségur, its sister estate, Capbern is benefiting from a gravity fed vat house of 37 vats, and an ageing cellar in which the wines are going to mature for 18 months.

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Consulting oenologist

Éric Boissenot

Soil

Sandy-gravelly, clayey-gravelly & chalky soil.

Area

38 ha (94 acres).

Production area

29 ha (33 ha planted).

Grape varieties

52% Cabernet sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% petit Verdot.

Average vine age

17 years.

Pruning method

Double Guyot.

Planting density

8,000 vines/ha.

Yield target

45 hl/ha.

Harvest

Hand picking. A first selection of grapes on the vine. Mechanical sorting of the grapes by vibration, followed by hand sorting.

Vinification

Temperature-controlled conical stainless-steel tanks. Maceration for 18 to 21 days. Pumping over twice a day. Fermentation at 26°C. Malolactic fermentation (indigenous lactic bacteria) in stainless steel at 20°C.

Ageing

18 months, 60% new barrels. Fining with egg white.

Average annual production

Around 65,000 bottles.