A brief history
Located in the central part of the Graves appellation, Château Villa Bel-Air is perched at the top of a gently sloping, gravelly hillside with an ideal microclimate for vine growing.
This beautiful chartreuse was built in the XVIII century by an advisor to the Bordeaux parliament, Louis Dufaure, Marquis of Lajarte. Louis was one of the era’s great architects and designed this traditional Gironde ‘’chartreuse’’.
Towards the end of the XIX century, the chartreuse and its vineyards were given a new lease of life. The owner at the time, Honoré Zappa, an aesthete and wine merchant in Bordeaux, designed the beautiful gardens complete with water feature and several Italian-inspired sculptures.
In 1988, the estate was bought by the Cazes family who immediately began a comprehensive restructuring of the vineyards and technical facilities. Inspired by the spirit of the property and its Italian roots, Jean-Michel Cazes gave the Château its definitive name ‘’Villa Bel-Air’’.
Finally, in 2017, this beautiful 18th-century estate was bought by the family of Armand Ballande and benefits from the most advanced winegrowing techniques, while remaining true to the ancestral traditions. The team is advised by Derenoncourt Consultants and has set itself the goal of benefitting from the terroir’s exceptional capacity and continuing to deliver all its potential by producing a white and a red wine that exemplify all the finesse and complexity of Graves wines.
