The Faces of Bordeaux

At The Bordeaux Concierge, our aim is to introduce our clients to the real Bordeaux. This includes meeting the people that make Bordeaux what it is today. As part of this effort, we will bring these vibrant personalities to our audience at home through our new series, The Faces of Bordeaux.

The Asseily Family
Château Biac

Château Biac, located in the town of Langoiran just south of Bordeaux, is situated on one of the highest hills of the Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux appellation with beautiful views over the Garonne River. With an extremely high quality terroir across the 9.5 hectare estate, Château Biac produces red, dry white, and sweet white wines.

In our latest Faces of Bordeaux interview, we present to you the Asseily family. Lebanese-British couple Tony and Youmna Asseily bought the estate in 2006 and have since been joined by their daughter Yasmina and son Gabriel.

Château Biac is a family run estate. Please introduce us to the family and explain their roles at the château…

Tony (Pater familias) is a retired merchant banker who spent over 30 years as a partner of Schroders , the British merchant Bank. Tony’s hawk eye scans the vineyard and winery and keeps everyone on their toes!!! He is the long term planner and remains the ultimate decision referral when it comes to choosing between the alternatives suggested by the rest of the family.

Youmna (Mama) is jack of all trades and fool of none! A self taught painter with some worthy successes prior to coming to the vineyard, Youmna tries her best at feeding everyone both gastronomically and spiritually. She also put together an amazing book and project based on her father’s very unique archives, but you’ll have to pass a few tests before she reveals all. 😊

Yasmina , eldest daughter, studied French and English law and is a former banker in New York with a nutrition diploma under her belt. Naturally organically minded, Yasmina is the wellness conscience of the vineyard. She joined Tony and Youmna in 2013 to look after sales and marketing. The big event in her lives has been the arrival during confinement in Bordeaux of her wonderful little Luca.

Gabriel (aka Gabs), middle child , studied chemistry at Imperial College London. Little did he know then that this would come super handy …on a vineyard ! Having first become a well trusted IT support “doctor on wheels” in London , he joined Biac full time in 2019 to oversee the technical production of the vineyard. He also helps keep everyone who wants it, fit…with his training sessions! Please apply here!

Last but not least: Antonia , her husband Nickyl and their lovely Sienna living in London. We miss them, but they try to come as often as possible (during virus-free times of course).

Your previous life was spent between London and Lebanon. How did you become the owners of a château in France?

Having spent many summers in the area close to Biac during the civil war in Lebanon, we eventually looked for a possible holiday house. One of the most important requirements was: NO VINEYARD. However, the stars and the planets above had a different plan for us and made us discover Biac. We fell in love, got hooked and the rest is history!

Biac’s truly unique position on a hill overlooking a bend of the river Garonne and the Graves plain totally convinced us this was special. The cherry on the cake was to hear from some of Bordeaux’s most respected oenologists that it also had a fascinating terroir and the possibility of producing great wine.

Once you decided to make wine, did you have any mentors to help you along the way?

We couldn’t have done it without the help of mentors and we are forever grateful to them for having encouraged us enthusiastically to pursue our goals: Patrick Leon, whose name is probably one of the most esteemed in the wine trade for his winemaking achievements, oversaw 10 vintages of red Biac wines. We are lucky now to have his son Bertrand follow on his father’s footsteps with a new outlook too. The apple never falls far from the tree!

Christine Sourdes looks after our sweet and dry white wine. Her sensitive nature coupled with a heightened work ethic have helped us translate the beauty of our white grapes into a delightful sweet wine and dry white wine. Both are now in great demand.

Last but not least, Gilles Rey, our attentive and meticulous agricultural engineer who made us fall in love with our terroir even more by being so fascinated by it himself!

The terroir at Château Biac has been described as extremely high quality and one of the most interesting geological phenomenon in the area and in Bordeaux. What makes it so unique?

Biac sits on the highest point of the Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux: a ridge formed millions of years ago by geological movements which lifted the plateau of the Entre Deux Mers from the sea. This geological history is embedded in our soils as a mosaic of gravel, silt, sand, and clay - side by side , intimately intertwined , both right and left bank give our terroir the possibility of planting all of Bordeaux red and white varietals in the best conditions on plots ranging from a quarter of a hectare to just over one hectare. It is more Burgundy than Bordeaux in its fabric. You have to see it to believe it!

You are located at a bend in the Garonne river. What impact does the location next to the river, especially at this bend, have on the vineyard and the wine?

The Garonne has an enormous impact on our terroir: it brings freshness and light breezes in the summer, pushes fog up the hill in the autumn which allows the Botrytis to develop on the white varietals for the sweet wine, it regulates temperatures a bit like the Gulf Stream in the spring thus protecting our budding vines from deadly spring frost. The air flow created by the hill creates a true micro-climate which diverts violent hail storms onto corridors behind us.

You have recently received HVE-3 certification. What was involved in this process and what changes had to be made at the estate in order to achieve this certification? Any plans to get certified organic or biodynamic in the near future?

The HVE 3 certification is a working practices and environmental audit. The report found that the products used to treat our vines were well within the regulations as most of our treatments focus on nutrition in the form of natural organic amendments to strengthen the vines rather than using synthetic compounds. We aim for a preventive approach rather than an aggressive treatment of disease. All our waste products go through a water waste treatment station on site to clean them of any residue before they are channeled into the general sewer system. The vineyard is naturally situated in a bio diverse environment as we are surrounded on two sides by forests and a tree hedge and neighbor’s vineyards for the third and fourth side. We have also added local bush hedges where possible and have refrained from using planting rights on one field which we transformed into a wild flower meadow to encourage biodiversity in our fauna and flora. The HVE certification also takes into account all kinds of other details such as the fact that we keep goats and have a natural fauna living happily in our woods…(for which we are happy except for the wild boars !!!!)

The organic and biodynamic certifications are very tempting and would be within our reach since we apply most of their methods and beyond sometimes. In 2018, for instance, we lost 90% of our harvest to mildew for not wanting to use aggressive chemicals . However, we tend to look after the vineyard’s health as we do our own - more of a preventive approach, but using science with common sense when needed. As mentioned above, we work very hard on the nutrition and care of our vines to strengthen them enough to resist diseases . Just as we try to eat well, sleep enough, and exercise to be healthy ourselves, we are bound to catch a cold sometimes. If you catch a cold, you don’t take an antibiotic to cure it, but if you catch pneumonia or another life threatening disease, you will use appropriate stronger medicines. Science is therefore not a negative tool, it just has to be used with a common sense approach and always respectful of our and the vines’ health. We keep our options open but prefer a more gentle and holistic approach obviously.

After purchasing the château, what work was necessary to bring the estate back to life?

According to the “Editions Feret” of the 19th century, Château Biac has a long history of excellence and a sound reputation since the mid 19th century, producing wines recognized for their finesse, elegance and quality. However, the owners before us lost interest in keeping the good practices put in place by their predecessors. Once we had been convinced of Biac’s winemaking potential by our future mentors, we embarked on a 12 year planting plan of the vineyard , we restored the winery, and added a tasting room and bottle storage building. We modernized the property’s infrastructure and are still hard at it as every year we try to improve on our production and agricultural practices.

What is the current distribution of varietals on the estate and how has this changed from when you first arrived?

The vineyard, according to the records we have, had been mostly replanted in the late 50s and early 60s, although some of the Semillons are older. When we arrived in 2006, the varietal distribution was as follows : 24.5 % Semillons , 5.2% Cabernets Francs, 8.3% Cabernets Sauvignons , 62 % Merlot. After thorough soil investigation and subsequent replanting, the red varietals stand at: 15% Cabernets Francs, 21 % Cabernets Sauvignons, 56 % Merlots and 8 % Petit Verdot, which we introduced in 2008. As for the white varietals, 90 % Old Semillons and 10% Sauvignon Blanc, which we introduced in 2009.

What has been the biggest challenge since taking over Château Biac?

The biggest challenge has been to build the brand and show that the Biac terroir can consistently produce wines to be reckoned with, regardless of the common misconception people may have of our appellation.

And what has been your biggest accomplishment?

To restore credibility in Biac’s potential and see our bottles grace many famous international restaurants wine lists as well as being cited as a beacon of excellence of our area.

What philosophy do you apply to your wine making?

Our passion and total “intoxication” for Biac lead the way ! Philosophy is a big word…I think it is much more of an approach: being truthful to who we are and what the terroir can produce.

You make three red wines – Château Biac, B de Biac, and Félix de Biac. Please explain the process you use to select the grapes you will use in each?

Imagine the vineyard as a full fledged orchestra (aka the vineyard) showing up to play one evening (vintage). All the musicians (wines from the different varietals) want to play. But if they all play together, you’ll get a very confusing sound. So the orchestra conductor ( the oenologist and us) takes out some of the musicians (wines) and with what he chooses to keep a harmonious, precise, powerful , complex and beautiful symphony is played - that is Chateau Biac! However, the musicians cast aside still want to play so the conductor humours them and puts together a chamber orchestra, still leaving out a few musicians, to bring to life his pleasing, softer chamber music - that is B de Biac. Last, but not least, he gives the floor to the remaining musicians who happily jam up some great jazzy and easy to listen tunes - that is Felix. In other words, we blend our wines according to how our vineyard has interpreted this particular vintage: just as no one musician is dedicated to a piece of music, no one plot is dedicated to a certain wine.

This can result in the blend changing drastically from vintage to vintage. Doesn’t this completely change the profile of the wine from year to year?

I understand it can be confusing, however, think of the vineyard as a couple and the vintages as the children: each child is different as are the vintages, yet they do look alike and certainly look like their parents (one hopes 😊). Each vintage, like children, has its own personality and characteristics. With the soil diversity present at Biac, we must thrive to translate that uniqueness into our wines. The terroir is the constant , the thread between the vintages , and it is up to us to let it show in collaboration with the nuances the vintage has brought.

You also make a sweet white wine, which is quite surprising given the altitude some of your vines are at (92m). How are you able to develop the botrytis necessary to produce a sweet white wine?

Actually , our appellation – Cadillac – is a very old one and part of the 6 branches of the Bordeaux Liquoreux family , the others being Sauternes , Barsac and Cerons (Left Bank) and Ste Croix du Mont, Loupiac and Cadillac (Right Bank). At Biac, the amphitheater shape of the vineyard sucks upwards the humidity and fog from the river down below, allowing for the botrytis to develop. It always surprises our visitors that the Semillon plot is right at the top of the vineyard sandwiched between the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Petit Verdot. We sometimes joke that we make the Rolls Royce of the Cadillacs!!!

You have made two special vintages, one red and one sweet white. Can you tell us about these?

Aaaahhh…these are for your eyes only! The red vintage was the 2015: we made just one barrel of a Cabernet Franc prominent blend, our usual Chateau Biac being either Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. Youmna designed 17 drawings drawn from the Biac fauna and flora as well as Levantine geometric designs . Each label was printed in one set of colors making it unique . The wine was bottled in magnums and the project is an homage to Patrick Leon for his inspiring friendship and counsel. As for the sweet wine, one afternoon picking in 2009 proved to be so complete in taste and aromas, it was set apart and bottled in magnums. It was named “Ultra Secret.” We may have some left of both, but you’d better hurry up if you want some…

It has now been almost 15 years since you purchased Chateau Biac. What do you wish you knew back then that you know now?

Impossible to answer!!! However, I don’t think we would want to know anything more than we did at the start as we might never have embarked on what has been so far an extraordinary adventure and challenge. It has brought so much out of each one of us and brought us together too!

2020 was a strange year with lockdowns, social distancing, and travel restrictions. What impact did this have on your family personally and professionally and also on Château Biac?

It was the first time we actually spent a whole uninterrupted year together (except for our London children which we missed a lot). It has been a difficult year on many levels: the virus threat, the lack of sales, the uncertainties looming , separation from family and friends, but also all the added anxieties caused by the economic situation in Lebanon which were heightened with the 4th August explosion of the silo in the harbor, injuring many of our family and friends, some for life and killing 5 dear friends. It is not all gloomy though: Tony and Youmna became twice grandparents: a beautiful grand daughter in London and a joyful endearing grandson in Bordeaux…life lives on…

The ladies of the Château Biac team have been involved in a couple of ‘women in wine’ projects, tell us about those.

We have participated in a few ‘women in wine’ projects. The first one was in 2010 with a video the CIVB had produced for the American market and more recently with the “Strong women make big bottles” double magnum campaign poured in New York in February 2020 just before lockdown. The wine scene is changing for sure. It used to be very male dominated but as for most professions, women have started in earnest to show that they are up to the job, be it trading, making or promoting wines. In the end, it has to be whoever is best for the job, and not that the gender defines the job.

What is your favorite thing about Bordeaux?

It is not just one thing, more a combination of things: the quality of life undoubtedly, the beauty of this iconic city, bringing people from all over the world that are passionate about wine; the light on the Garonne; the sense that in our own modest way, we contribute to the history of Bordeaux wines. Maybe its our Phoenician origins, but we feel at home.

What is the number one thing visitors to Bordeaux should see/do while they are here?

Bordeaux has a very distinct culture, architecture, history , gastronomy , beautiful landscapes and art of living …there is definitely something for everyone.

Château Biac, located in AOC Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux just south of Bordeaux, produces (depending on the year) three red wines (Château Biac, B de Biac, and Felix de Biac), a dry white wine (Felicie de Biac), and a sweet white wine (Secret Château de Biac). Harvesting is done by hand with each plot and sub-plot vinified separately and final blend done at the end of aging. Château Biac is open to visitors upon request and also has three guesthouses on the property available for rent.

AOC Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux runs alongside the Garonne River on the western side of the Entre-deux-Mers region, facing Graves across the river. This appellation is comprised of 250 winemakers that produce on average 12 million bottles per year. It is located on the edge of a limestone plateau with terroir comprised of gravel at the top of the plateau, clay-limestone along the slopes and sandy gravel at the bottom.

Let us introduce you to the Asseily family and Château Biac on your next visit to Bordeaux

The Faces of Bordeaux - Château Biac