Olivier Casteja appointed new head of Sauternes and Barsac body

The owner of Chateau Doisy-Vedrines has been elected president of the Crus Classés of Sauternes and Barsac.

Castéja succeeds Chateau Climens owner Bérénice Lurton, who was elected to the post in 2008 and has set about trying to change the ‘fusty’ image of sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac.

Castéja told Decanter.com his ‘main aim is to promote Classified Growths of Sauternes and Barsac to make them better known, as they should be, [and] to explain the way to drink such wines’.

He said he does not see himself as a ‘revolutionary’, and will ‘follow up’ on promotional projects initiated by his predecessor.

Barsac-based Doisy-Védrines passed to Olivier Castéja from his father, Pierre, who had run the estate since 1946. However, the Castéja family lineage at the chateau can be traced back to the mid-19th Century.

The family also runs one of Bordeaux‘s largest wine merchants, Joanne. Most recently, Olivier has also worked alongside his son, Guillaume, and son-in-law, Douglas Demichel, at Bordelaise des Grands Vins.

Alongside Olivier on the Crus Classés of Sauternes and Barsac council will be: Philippe Baly (Château Coutet), Eric Larramona (Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey), Bérénice Lurton (Château Climens), Xavier Planty (Château Guiraud), Slanie de Pontac – Ricard (Château de Myrat) and Marie-Louise Schÿler (Château Suduiraut).

Written by Chris Mercer