Château Court-les-Muts
Grape harvest in Périgord-Pourpre
Food
Production : 
© 2017
Production : © 2017
The area of the «Purple Périgord» takes its name from the many vineyards found here, which are in some ways in the shadow of the wine region of Bordeaux. We visit the winery of the Sadoux family and accompany them for a day during the grape harvest.
Château Court les Muts includes 68 hectares of vineyards on the edge of the Bordeaux region, 15 km southwest of Bergerac, spread over the clay and limestone slopes, in front of which spreads the valley of the Dordogne.
In the 17th century, the place called «Les Mûts» - «the must» in Old French - was built as a wine warehouse for the Seignierie of Saussignac. At the end of the 19th century, the «Société Nationale de Lutte Contre le Phyloxéra» (National Society for the Control of Phyloxera) took over the estate, which, thanks to exceptional prudence, is one of the few French wineries to have survived this disaster without damage.
In 1960, Château Court les Mûts is already a winner in the competitions of the last century and is taken over by Pierre Sadoux after his return from Algeria. He is a winemaker with more than 20 years of experience. At that time, the estate was only 14 hectares and the vineyards were in poor condition.
In 1972, after studying oncology in Bordeaux, his son Pierre-Jean creates an onological laboratory and pursues the vinification of 40 wine warehouses. With his wife Bernadette, he introduces the wine trade in bottles.
Between 1977 and 1987 the estate has grown to 23 ha. The cellars are renovated and enlarged (7,800 hl of barrels) and modern equipment is acquired for winemaking and bottling. This makes possible a better marketing and establishes a solid reputation by the press and in the main guides.
1987 : Acquisition of Château Petite Borie and lease of Château Bramefant.
Since then, much in-depth work has been carried out on the cultivation and management of the vines with the aim of achieving optimum quality.
In 2004, Vignobles Pierre Sadoux committed to a global approach to quality that takes into account the entire operation of the winemaker: QUALENVI. This approach takes into account both the justified protection of the vineyard and the environment, introduced as early as 2001, and the guarantees given to buyers: food safety, services and traceability.
Every year, medals are awarded at the great vintage competitions for the different vintages.
In 2007, for example, Pierre-Jean and his son Pierre were named winemakers of the year by their peers in Bergerac.
