Château Olivier, Medieval castle and wine estate in Léognan, France

Château Olivier is a stone château with a weathered grey facade and a steep dark slate roof, its asymmetric plan formed by a tall narrow tower on the left and a main wing to the right with dormers set into the roof. Windows with bright red shutters are regularly spaced across the facade, and a short stone staircase with a balustrade leads to the central doorway. A low stone wall runs along the base of the building, separating it from a gravel path and a lawn.

The estate is documented in 1350, when it was held by the d'Olivey family, and the building was altered in the 15th and 17th centuries. Viticulture began in 1846 under Count Charles-Joseph Maurice d'Etchegoyen. The château was partly listed as a monument historique on 11 March 1963.

The name Olivier comes from the d'Olivey family, who occupied the estate in the 14th century. The second wine is called Le Dauphin d'Olivier, and a further label, La Seigneurie d'Olivier, is also produced. Red wines are aged 18 months, 12 of them in barrels; whites rest on their lees in barrels for 10 months.

The château stands in Léognan, south of Bordeaux, on a 220-hectare estate of which 50 to 60 hectares are vines. The building is partly listed as a monument historique since 11 March 1963. Harvests are done by hand with successive sorting; reds age 18 months, 12 of them in barrels, whites 10 months on the lees.

The château is one of only two Léognan estates that were given the prefix "château" in the first French edition of Cocks & Féret, the Bordeaux wine reference. Its second wines are named Le Dauphin d'Olivier and La Seigneurie d'Olivier.