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Sarah and Eric welcome you to Fronsac, at the heart of a small family estate where each cuvée begins with a precise plot, careful hand work and deliberately limited production.
This page gathers the essentials of the château: the place, the vines, the cellar, the spirit of the estate and the moments that shape the character of the wines.
Château Franc Capet belongs to the rolling landscape of Fronsac, shaped by limestone slopes, vineyard roads and the nearby rivers. The estate keeps an intentionally intimate scale, allowing each row to be followed with precision.
Visitors are welcomed simply, with time to explain the plots, the farming choices and the available vintages.
Cellar work supports the character of the wines without masking it. Ageing is designed to preserve texture, freshness and precision, with particular attention given to the lots from Canon Fronsac.
Limited production makes it possible to follow the wines carefully, from grape to bottle.
Capet carries the historical anchor of the estate in Fronsac, while Palaka expresses the more confidential identity of Canon Fronsac. Together they offer two readings of the same territory, between Merlot roundness, depth and ageing potential.
The small surface area keeps the work close to the vines and allows interventions to follow the rhythm of each vintage.
Château Franc Capet is also a story of sharing: a family heritage carried forward, a Right Bank terroir still to be discovered, and direct exchanges with visitors, wine lovers and loyal customers.
Each bottle extends this link between the estate, its history and those who taste the wines.
History
The story of Château Franc Capet begins with Uncle Philippe, passes to Gérald Risser-Maroix in 1981, and has continued since 2008 with Eric Risser-Maroix.
Origins
The story begins in 18XX with my uncle Philippe Marroix, at the place called “Capet” in Fronsac. My uncle owned a large vineyard: he produced white and red wine, was also a beekeeper and made mead. We have kept his old labels.
During a hunt, his only son was accidentally killed. The sale of the property plot by plot then began, until the day he discovered that he had a nephew: my father, Gérald Risser Maroix. At that time, only a tiny plot remained on the property, the plot named Capet. My uncle kept it and produced his wine: Château Franc Capet.
1981
When my uncle died in 1981, my father inherited the property. He was a technology teacher in Toulouse and, unable to take care of the property himself, he rented it to a friend. When he retired, he resumed farming and began to work the terroir.
He trained in the vineyard and in winemaking. The first year was not famous, but he was not discouraged and continued to learn. From the second year, and until his death, he obtained the coveted Fronsac AOC. The Château Franc Capet AOC Fronsac harvest was then sold to friends and family.
Since 2008
An IT professional working in Paris, I stopped that job in 2008 and took up the torch. Like my father, I started from zero, or almost, in terms of wine knowledge; and I also expanded the estate in order to live from it. The challenge was huge.
In 2008, I trained for a year at La Tour Blanche, 1er cru classé in Sauternes, while also training with a friend in Fronsac. In 2009, I passed my Bac Pro in viticulture. In 2010, I created my business, bought 0.5 hectare in Canon-Fronsac, uprooted the abandoned vine and replanted in July 2010. The plot produced its first wine in 2012: it was “Sélection OR Gilbert & Gaillard”.
In 2013, following a meteorologically catastrophic year, I preferred not to sell this vintage rather than disappoint my customers. To assume this choice, I had to resume my IT activity while maintaining the wine activity.
Terroir
Fronsac and Canon Fronsac form a landscape of slopes where limestone, clay and nearby rivers give the red wines their balance of depth, freshness and ageing potential.
At the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne rivers, Fronsac and Canon Fronsac rest on limestone plateaus, clay-limestone slopes and, more locally, siliceous clay at the foot of the hills. Asteriated limestone marks the mounds and plateaus, while Fronsadais molasse structures the slopes and valleys.
This clay-limestone combination gives the vines regular water supply, without excess or sudden stress. The hillsides reinforce natural drainage, contributing to the richness, depth and complexity of the wines.
The temperate oceanic climate takes on a slightly more continental character here than in other Bordeaux sectors. Long summers, mild autumns and the influence of the Isle and Dordogne rivers support ripening while helping limit spring frost.
Across the appellations, Merlot is widely dominant because it thrives in the coolness of clay-limestone soils. Cabernet Franc brings aromatic finesse, freshness and structure, while Cabernet Sauvignon suits the warmest, driest plots.
Fronsac covers around 800 hectares across seven communes. Canon Fronsac is more confidential, with around 250 hectares around Fronsac and Saint-Michel-de-Fronsac, and a particularly marked limestone subsoil.
Appellations
Fronsac and Canon Fronsac share an ancient history, marked relief and a strong Right Bank identity. At the estate, they are expressed through two plots: Capet in Fronsac and Palaka in Canon Fronsac.
Located northwest of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, Fronsac covers seven communes in the Libourne area. Its landscape of mounds, plateaus and hillsides overlooks the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne rivers.
The Tertre de Fronsac holds a strong place in local history: a Gallic market, Roman presence, then a fortress attributed to Charlemagne. In the 18th century, Fronsac’s wine reputation grew alongside Bordeaux’s international trade.
Canon Fronsac is generally regarded as the more demanding and sought-after expression of the Fronsadais: a smaller appellation than Fronsac, focused around Fronsac and Saint-Michel-de-Fronsac, where limestone plateaus and slopes produce dense, precise and expressive wines.
Its history is closely linked to the Canon mound and to the great limestone terroirs of the Right Bank. The appellation was officially created in 1939 as Côtes de Canon Fronsac, before taking the name Canon Fronsac in 1964. It has no official château classification: its reputation rests first on the quality of its terroirs, its limited surface area and the work of winegrowing families.
Each lot now brings the useful information together in one place: appellation, vintage, ageing, tasting notes and ex-cellar prices.
For each vintage and each appellation, if the harvested quantity is sufficient, we make both a stainless-steel cuvée and an oak-barrel cuvée. For the oak-barrel cuvée, one quarter of the barrels are new so that the wine is not overly oaky.
Since 2017, stainless-steel coils have helped regulate the wine temperature during fermentation. Yeasts consume sugar and turn it into alcohol, releasing heat and carbon dioxide: about 17 g of sugar are needed to produce 1% alcohol by volume. At 14% vol, the yeasts have consumed 238 g of sugar per litre.
This heat must be dissipated: without regulation, the vat can rise above 30°C and stop fermentation. Once the sugars are consumed, fermentation is over; the vat is then warmed to around 27 to 28°C for maceration lasting about 15 days to 3 weeks, before running off, pressing, bottling and tasting.
The Fronsac is mostly Merlot with Cabernet Franc. The estate’s Canon Fronsac is 100% Merlot.
Gold medal, 70 Millions de dégustateurs, 91/100.
Contact
Château Franc Capet, 3 lieu dit Capet, 33126 Fronsac, France. Please include your phone number or email address so we can reply.
From central Libourne, head towards Fronsac, then follow signs towards the Capet locality.
From Saint-André-de-Cubzac, head towards the Fronsac area, then follow signs towards Capet.
