Ch La Rame

Situated 25 miles southeast of the city of Bordeaux, Château La Rame is among the oldest and most renowned properties in the Sainte-Croix-du-Mont appellation. The house sits on a hill overlooking the Garonne River. The estate was the property of the Baron de Vertheuil, Governor of the Ile d’Oleron, after the French Revolution. It has been recognized throughout its history as one of the prime sites for producing outstanding wine (gold medals at exhibitions in Bordeaux in 1895 and in Paris in 1900). The property was purchased by Claude Armand, the father of the current owner, Yves Armand, at a time when the appellation had fallen out of favor. The Armand family has undertaken to re-establish Sainte-Croix-du-Mont as an appellation of merit set to rival the great estates of Sauternes and Barsac.

The 20 hectares of Château La Rame are set on a clay-limestone soil blessed with an exceptional substratum marked by a bed of fossilized oysters dating from the Tertiary Period. The Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc vines are planted on hillsides overlooking the Garonne River. The vines have an average age of 50 years (as of 2011). It is from these vineyards that the Bordeaux Blanc Sec (Sauvignon) and the Sainte-Croix-du-Mont is produced. On the sandier soils of the property where the land slopes toward the river, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are planted to produce a Bordeaux Rouge and Bordeaux Rosé. An additional six hectares are sited on a hillside around the neighboring village of Monprimblanc. Here, the Armand family produces a Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux Rouge from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.