This average-sized, family-run estate has been in the LENIER family for at least four generations. It is located in PUISSEGUIN, just five kilometres from the magnificent vineyards of SAINT - EMILION...



The "CHATEAU ROC DE BERNON" trade name was registered in 1936. In 1974, after passing my diploma in Agricultural Economy and Management, I decided to take over the family estate. At that time, the grapes we produced were taken to the Cooperative Winery to be vinified.

In 1982, our operations took in an additional four hectares of vines belonging to Mademoiselle Françoise BOURLON : Domaine de GUILHAMBON.

Increasingly interested as I was in managing production, from the pruning of the vines right the way through to bottling, and in selling my own product and sharing my passion directly with my clients, in 1987 I decided to have a winery built and thus produced the first entirely home-produced vintage of ROC DE BERNON.

It was at this time that I registered the brand name of a second wine : CHATEAU CHAMPS DE DURAND.It is today that all these efforts are bearing fruit, with the expression of our terroir through each of the individual vintages - each of them authentic, unique and magical...

Our efforts were quick to earn recognition : Several medals in the PARIS and AQUITAINE Agricultural Shows, Primeur wines featuring in the selections of the Revue des Vins de France, Vins Magazine, La Revue Belge des Vins, Millésimes, the Dussert-Gerber Guide, Vins et Santé, Le Guide du Routard or the Guide HACHETTE des VINS which, in its 2001 edition, awarded two stars and a "COUP DE COEUR" to CHATEAU ROC DE BERNON 1997.

"A unanimous 'coup de cœur' for this wine, which is the result of strict plot selection and is matured only in barrels. With a very concentrated colour (purple tints) and rich bouquet (game, leather, pepper), this 97 shows off its racy qualities on the palate. The tannins are full and powerful, very long and fruity. One of our tasters qualified this as 'an intelligent wine that will leave a great impression on the consumer'. The wine should be drunk in two to five years."

Added to these constants are the best techniques for favouring the regular ripeness of the fruit: rational farming in collaboration with the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture in order to protect the environment, "Guyot double" pruning with alternate bud-removal, leaf-stripping limited to the east-facing side and strict plot selection at harvest time. I try to carry out three to four weeks' traditional vinification in a modern vat house with the advice of my oenologist Daniel MILLET, in search of the best quality: a rich terroir wine - tannic, colourful and ready to be aged. A wine with all the quality of the great wines of SAINT-EMILION and the distinctiveness of the ROC DE BERNON terroir. Finally, bottling on the estate provides consumers with the ultimate proof of my attachment to this wine.

To know more, download the document (998 ko).