It all began with Primo de Conti, a farmer and son of Italian immigrants, who planted some vines in Ribagnac, in the heart of the ‘Purple Périgord’ region. When his son Luc took over the vineyards, he created Château Tour des Gendres in 1981 with the ambition of making great wines. He didn’t do too badly since it soon became the flagship estate of the Bergerac region! When Luc retired in 2022, Gilles and Margaux de Conti, 2 of his children, took over and gave the estate a new lease of life.

The vineyard is made up of 50% red grape varieties (merlot, malbec, cabernet franc) planted on predominantly clay-limestone soils and 50% white grape varieties (sauvignon, chenin, savagnin) which are ideally planted in the parcels where the soil is predominantly limestone.

The estate is situated in a hilly area in the middle of forests and plantations of truffle oaks, which protect the vines from frost, but above all create an abundant ecosystem, a safe zone for birds and insects to thrive, who in turn nourish the soil and rid the vines of pests.

Here, the wines are organic and it’s important to us! A trailblazer in his day, Luc de Conti began working organically in 1996, and Gilles and Margaux naturally continued to run their vineyards in the same way. In 2017, they added a new grape variety, Savagnin, which brings finesse and tension to the estate’s whites.

And oh, how the wines are fussed over in the cellar! The team takes whatever action is deemed appropriate depending on the cuvées and vintages, but always, always gently. All Château Tour des Gendres wines – whites and reds – are vinified and aged in tanks or 30hl tuns so as to retain purity of fruit, finesse and elegance.