PRE-ORDER About Winery Château Rieussec is a sweet white wine ranked as Premier Cru Classé (French, “First Growth”) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Belonging to the Sauternes appellation in Gironde, in the region of Graves, the winery is located in the commune of Fargues. The Rieussec estate was the property of the monks of Carmes de Langon in the 18th century. Following the French Revolution, church property was confiscated by the state and auctioned off. In about 1790, Rieussec was bought in this fashion by a Mr. Marheilhac, who at this time was also the owner of Château La Louvière in Léognan. The owner at the time of the 1855 classification, when Rieussec was classified a first growth, was a Mr. Mayne. After that, Rieussec had a long succession of owners: Charles Crepin bought in around 1870, Paul Defolie in 1892, Mr. Edgar Bannel a well known banker of Bordeaux in 1907, the Gasqueton family (also owners of Château Calon-Ségur in Saint Estèphe), the American P. F. Berry (brother-in-law of the Vicomte de Bouzet) during the war, Mr. Balaresque in 1957 and Albert Vuillier in 1971. In 1984, Rieussec was bought by Domaines Barons de Rothschild, the owners of Château Lafite Rothschild. The Rothschilds invested in a new cellar in 1989, and strove to increase quality by better selection of the grapes, which also led to reduced production in the 1990s. In the 1993 vintage, one of three difficult Bordeaux vintages in a row, no Château Rieussec grand vin was produced at all out of quality considerations. One of the more recent recognitions for quality was when Château Rieussec 2001 was selected as Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year in 2004.
