Château Farizeau
The Moreau family has been involved in the wine trade in Bordeaux since the early 1800s, initially working as coopers and cellar masters for wineries throughout the region. In 1911, Maxime Moreau was finally able to purchase a small vineyard of his own in Sadirac, located 20km east of the city of Bordeaux in the region of Entre-Deux-Mers. The vineyard holdings slowly expanded to the 12ha the family farms today, and in 1980, Maxime's son, André, and his wife, Nicole, officially founded Château Farizeau and began to vinify their own wines. André's eldest son, Guillaume, eventually joined the family winery, bringing with him a renewed focus on farming and natural work in the cellar. The Moreau's began by ripping out high-yielding parcels and replanting them at much higher densities. After experiencing the drought vintages of the 2000s, the family started working the soils by utilizing green manure and tilling to keep the bases of the vines covered, which they believe is essential to help retain freshness. The Moreau's went on to pursue full organic certification starting in 2010 (which they received in 2013), all in an attempt to best express the region's blue clay and sandy gravel soils. With all of the changes in the vineyard, the Moreau's followed up in the cellar as well. Fermentations are with native yeast, and the wines are not moved until the spring following harvest to avoid oxidation and allow for very low (or, in the case of "Cuvée Max", zero) additions of sulfur before bottling, which follows the phases of the moon. The results are real Bordeaux wines of terroir with fresh acidities, drinkability, and an underlying complexity that make them some of the best values in the region.
