Fifth Generation & the Stockinger Foudre

The story of Vignobles Pueyo begins in the mid-19th century with the acquisition of Château Belregard-Figeac in 1853 — a property that would anchor the family for five generations and nearly two centuries of continuous viticulture. For most of this long history, the Pueyo family operated as traditional right-bank Bordeaux growers: farming Merlot and Cabernet Franc on the sandy, gravelly, limestone soils of the Libourne periphery, ageing in small barriques, and producing wines of honest, classic structure for the négociant market and direct sale.

The modern era began in 2010, when Christophe Pueyo took control of the domaine from his father and uncle. The transition was not merely generational; it was philosophical. Christophe converted the vineyards to organic farming immediately, obtaining full certification in 2013, and began introducing biodynamic practices — soil conservation, composted preparations, and a respect for the lunar calendar that his predecessors would have recognised from their own grandparents' methods. In the cellar, he made a decision that would redefine the estate's identity: he began replacing the small 225-litre barriques that had dominated the family's élevage with 500-litre demi-muids and larger foudres from the Austrian cooperage Stockinger — vessels large enough to moderate oak impact and allow the fruit to speak with clarity.

The results were immediate and unmistakable. The wines — always honest and classic — began to exhibit a purity of fruit and vibrant energy that had not been present in the past. Importers who had worked with the family since the 1996 vintage noted the shift with enthusiasm, expanding their portfolio to include not only the established Saint-Émilion and Bordeaux Rouge cuvées but also Christophe's more experimental projects: an orange Sémillon aged in amphora, a pét-nat Muscadelle, and a range of natural-leaning cuvées that challenged the conventional image of Bordeaux without abandoning its structural DNA. Today, Christophe farms alongside his father and the family team, tending a mosaic of small parcels that stretch from the suburban edges of Libourne to the limestone hills of Nérigean across the Dordogne.

For Christophe Pueyo, the cellar is not a place to manufacture a style but to protect the expression of the Libourne terroir and the health of the organic grapes his family has grown. The guiding principle is one of gentle, minimal intervention: natural yeast fermentations, cold macerations, little to no pigeage or pumping over, ageing in large-format neutral oak or amphora, and bottling with no filtration and only microscopic amounts of sulphur. The result is Bordeaux that is classic in its grape varieties and structure, but radically honest in its execution — wines that remind older drinkers of the right bank's mid-century purity and convince younger drinkers that Bordeaux can be as alive and transparent as any natural wine from the Loire or Jura.

The red wines begin with a roughly week-long cold maceration in concrete tanks, during which the grapes are left with little to no pigeage (punching down) and minimal pumping over. Fermentation is started by natural yeasts and proceeds over roughly three weeks in concrete — a vessel choice that provides thermal stability and absolute neutrality, allowing the Merlot and Cabernet Franc to express their terroir without oak interference during the critical fermentation phase. After pressing, the wines are aged in a combination of Stockinger foudres, demi-muids, and the occasional amphora for approximately 18 months before bottling. The large-format oak provides gentle micro-oxygenation and structural rounding without the vanilla, toast, or tannin extraction of new barriques. Very little sulphur — typically about 6 grams per hectolitre (roughly 50–60 mg/l total) — is added during élevage, and the wines are bottled without filtration, preserving their natural textures, microbial vitality, and aromatic complexity.

The experimental cuvées push the estate's natural philosophy even further. Hellébore, the orange Sémillon, is macerated on its skins for 10 months in amphora — a radical duration for Bordeaux — with only a pinch of sulphur at bottling. Galipette, the pét-nat Muscadelle from Nérigean, is fermented in stainless steel before being bottled with its own unfermented must, without filtration, sugar, yeast, or sulphite additions of any kind. These are not commercial sidelines; they are Christophe's personal projects, explorations of what Bordeaux's indigenous white varieties can achieve when freed from the conventions of barrel ageing, early bottling, and sulphur saturation. They prove that the same Calcaire à Astéries that produces great Saint-Émilion can also produce orange wine and pét-nat of genuine originality.

This approach places Vignobles Pueyo among the most important and influential natural-leaning estates in Bordeaux. Christophe is not a radical outsider; he is a fifth-generation right-bank vigneron who has chosen to restore the purity his grandfather would have recognised, using the tools his grandfather did not have — organic certification, Stockinger foudres, amphora, and a global market that values honesty over polish. The result is wine that is classic not by nostalgia but by conviction, and that carries the unmistakable signature of Libourne: Merlot plushness, Cabernet Franc structure, limestone freshness, and the gravelly, sandy generosity of the Bordeaux periphery.

Vignobles Pueyo is not merely a winery; it is a proof that a fifth-generation Bordeaux family estate, rooted in the suburban sprawl of Libourne since 1853, can produce wines of classical honesty and radical transparency. In an era when the right bank is increasingly dominated by international investment, high-extraction winemaking, and new-barrique polish, Christophe Pueyo has spent fifteen years demonstrating that the same Merlot and Cabernet Franc can produce purity, the same Calcaire à Astéries can produce freshness, and the same Saint-Émilion appellation can produce wines that remind drinkers of Bordeaux's mid-century glory — if the farming is organic, the cellar is patient, and the oak is large enough to stay silent.

The legacy of Vignobles Pueyo is the legacy of generational evolution without generational rupture. Christophe did not reject his father and uncle's work; he refined it — replacing the small barriques with Stockinger foudres, adding amphora and concrete to the cellar, introducing biodynamic preparations to the vineyard, and daring to make orange Sémillon and zero-sulphur pét-nat Muscadelle in a region that rarely tolerates such experiments. The result is an estate that is simultaneously one of the most classical and one of the most forward-thinking in the Libourne periphery — a rare synthesis of heritage and innovation that has inspired importers, critics, and fellow vignerons alike.

The future of the estate is tied to the future of the Libourne periphery and the urban pressure that threatens its vineyards. As Christophe continues to farm his scattered parcels organically and biodynamically, as the Stockinger foudres accumulate seasoning and wisdom, and as the experimental cuvées find their audience among natural wine drinkers who never expected to discover honesty in Bordeaux, Vignobles Pueyo remains what it has always been: a family estate with a family name, a limestone terroir, and a belief that the best Bordeaux is the one that needs no new oak to prove its worth. The story of Vignobles Pueyo is the story of a fifth-generation vigneron who looked at his inheritance and chose to restore it rather than exploit it — and who proved that the best bottle from Libourne is the one that carries the purity of the past and the patience of the future. Only a glass, a meal, and the quiet confidence of the Calcaire à Astéries.