Domaine Profile

Jacques Thienpont is very well-known for owning the famous Pomerol estate, Le Pin which takes its name from the lone pine tree on the property.

In 2010, Jacques purchased a wine estate ideally situated on the plateau of Saint-Emilion, L'If. As an homage to their Pomerol estate, Chateau L’if also found the inspiration for its name from a tree. Chateau L’if is loosely translated into the French word for Yew tree. At the time of the purchase, when L’if was sold by Michel Boutet, the Right Bank property was called Château Le Haut-Plantey. The first job enyailed a complete study of the different soils on the estate which led to important decisions being taken regarding the rootstocks, varieties, cover crops, trellising and canopy management of each individual parcel. Today, the estate is still a work in progress: almost 3 hectares of vines have been pulled out and will be replanted over the next few years. The precision shown in working each parcel differently both in the vineyard and in the winery is enabling us to make the most out of the varied and complex soils and subsequently bring out the best of the vineyard in the bottle.

And in 2016, Jacques and his sister bought a Castillon estate, Château Goubau and rename to L'Hêtre which means beech tree. So we call the last one that The Third Tree of Jacques. L'Hêtre 2016 is the first release of this wine from the organically farmed estate perched at 100 m on the end of the St-Philippe d'Aiguilhe limestone plateau, the highest point in Bordeaux. The current 10 ha (25 acres) of vines – Merlot and Cabernet Franc – face south east, planted on the plateau or on the limestone, clay and chalk slopes.