Chateau Tire Pe is owned by David and Hélène Barrault, they took over this small vineyard in 1997. Blessed with rich clay and limestone soils, this vineyard possesses fantastic southern exposure and overlooks the Gironde River. The Chateau takes its name from a colourful local tale about what small animals “leave behind” before climbing the Tire Pé hill. We’ll leave that to your imagination.

 

The vineyard is composed of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, along with some rare local grapes called Castets and vines of Pineau d’Aunis originating from the Loire. The Barrault’s farm vines of 10-35 years old organically, a practice they started to implement in 2008, becoming officially Ecocert certified since the 2014 vintage. They also practice some biodynamic principles, as well as ploughing the vines with horses. The latter fits in perfectly with equestrian centre which Hélène is running at the farm, ensuring animals, like vines, are a big part of Tire Pe.

 

All grapes are harvested by hand and destemmed, with each plot harvested and fermented separately with natural yeast. Great care is taken to gently extract the supple fruit and terroir, that Bordeaux is so well known for, into each cuvee they produce.

 

David and Helene’s wines are bottled without systematic filtration and only small amounts or no sulphur is added depending the vintage and the cuvee. Their naturally-made wines are vibrant, authentic and full of fruit. We personally love their texture and generosity of flavour. We are very excited to import these wines and we hope Australia will rediscover the beauty of Bordeaux with wines like Tire Pe!

 

‘Tire Pé Diem’

Merlot vines are aged 10 to 15 years, with 3300 to 5000 vines per hectares. The grapes undergo a short 8 - 12 day cool maceration for a soft extraction. The wine is aged for 8 -12 months in concrete tanks.

 

‘La Cote’

This wine is a blend of 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc from older vines, aged on average 35 years old with low yields: 25-30 hl/ha. The grapes undergo three to four weeks of cool maceration for a soft extraction. The wine is vinified in tank and then aged in 300 & 400-liter old oak barrels for 12-14 months, after which the wine spends 6-8 months in concrete tank.

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