Château Montrose to host Bordeaux’s Fête de la Fleur

The 2015 Fête de la Fleur will also mark the 200th anniversary of the planting of Montrose’s vineyard.

The second growth Château Montrose has been chosen to host next year’s Fête de la Fleur, the Bordeaux wine trade’s most prestigious party.

The celebration will take place on June 18, 2015 immediately following the close of the biennial wine trade show, Vinexpo.

The party for more than 1000 guests will take place in the recently restored, majestic barrel cellar of the Saint-Estèphe château. The property has undergone seven years of renovations following its purchase in 2006 by the multimillionaire French industrialist brothers, Martin and Olivier Bouyges.

Although the château was founded in 1778, the Montrose vineyard was first planted in 1815, by the then owner Étienne Théodore Dumoulin. Today the vineyard has expanded and covers 95 hectares (235 acres).

The party, which will be attended by all the great and the good of Bordeaux, provides an appropriate occasion to celebrate the vineyard’s 200th anniversary.

The Fête de la Fleur, or flower festival, is organized by the Commanderie du Bontemps, an important wine fraternity in Bordeaux, which today links properties along the Left Bank, in Médoc, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac. The fraternity dates back to the Middle Ages, but the current incarnation was only revived in 1949. Its 350 members represents some of the greatest names in Bordeaux.

The 2015 edition of the Fête de la Fleur will be presided over by the Emmanuel Cruse, the owner of Château d’Issan, who has been the Commanderie’s Grand Master since 2008.

See full article here (wine-searcher.com)