The beginning of the estate
In the early 20th century, my grand father Martin acquired the estate. He will later marry a Rooy, descendant of the Dutch engineers who settled, and will start to develop the estate.
The first world war occured, and the return of my grand father, gassed in the trenches, will perturbate a promising start.
Before the second world war, the activity is mostly oriented to horse breeding (tamed and sold to the army), cereal crop, dairy, and vine growing for wine making (up to 60 barrels). The wine is made from four types of grapes, the Carmenere, the Cabernet Franc, the Malbec and Petit Verdot.
During the second world war, the Germans occupied the Chateau as their local headquarters, without destruction but still with a lot of annoyance. On the liberation, the Free French forces settled, and the house has been vandalised when they left.
The evolution
Since then, the estate has been declining till 1974, when my parents (Fernandez de Castro - Martin) decided to revive the estate, but made the mistake to keep the traditional triple activity: breeding, cereal crop and vine growing, while planting Merlots, Cabernets-Sauvignons and Cabernets-Francs.
But here come the modern times, with the end of polyculture, and the time came for specialised monoculture.
Horses and cereal crops are laid down, only to keep the wine producing part, with a small production on 6 hectares.
In 1990, the estate is taken over by Florence and Charles Fernandez de Castro, who purchase 9 more hectares, adding Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet-Franc, but also some Petit Verdot, as the gravel soils were not bringing enough acid to the wine.
A fresh upswing, new grapes varieties
Since 2005, the association with the Cordonnier Family boosts the estate, by adding 6 more hectares, while reintroducing the Carmenere and the Malbec, traditional Medoc grapes which have been laid off by most of the vine growers.
Today, with 21 hectares in production with the whole range of Bordeaux grapes, the Chateau Saint Aubin produces wines which are all about balance.
Each grape brings his own specificity, which are, for the Cabernets, the elegance and strength of the Sauvignon, the peppery side of the Franc, and the spiciness of Carmenere, for the Merlot types, the roundness of Merlot, and the sweetness and bold of Malbec; then the Petit Verdot brings his freshness and fruity character.
This blend makes our wine a thoughtful, succeeded product, linking tradition and modern techniques. A wine to keep, but that can also be enjoyed in its young years.