Château Pradeaux

A winery and a family in harmony. The wind soothes vineyards and olive trees, A bastide anchored in Les Lecques, All of this under a burning sun.

Château Pradeaux entered in the PORTALIS family in 1752, thanks to an heritage that received Jean-Etienne-Marie PORTALIS, Napoléon’s Minister, co-writer of the civil code 1804 and writer of the Concordat. This property is the most representative of Bandol traditions: a vineyard of Mourvèdre perfectly maintained first by Countess Arlette Portalis who passed down her heritage to Cyrille Portalis in order to carry on what she began. The Countess's vine-growing adventure and Château Pradeaux's fate started in 1940 in this winery of 26 hectares. Living in Paris, the Countess and her mother isolate themselves in their holiday home when the war began. This holiday house was Château Pradeaux. After the occupation troops destroyed the vineyards, the Countess started to produce a rich red wine with more than 80% of Mourvèdre: Château Pradeaux became Mourvèdre’s kingdom. Since 1983, her nephew and adopted son, Cyrille, and his wife, Magali, took over and continue the work of this great woman. Indeed, after winegrowing studies in the Lycée Viticole in Beaune (Burgundy), Cyrille is “crazy” about wine and he is determined to carry on the tradition of Château Pradeaux from generation to generation. This is the reason why Cyrille is the only person in charge of winemaking and wines maturing. Few times before she passed down her heritage, this is what the Countess said about him: “He is my saviour, a real vine-grower and an excellent cellarman”.