Château La Garde hosts seminars, working meetings, product launches, cocktails, gala dinners and weddings for up to 300 guests. Four rooms range from a boardroom with a five-meter table to a 300 m² vat room. The estate is a Pessac-Léognan wine property at 1 Chemin la Tour in Martillac, south of Bordeaux, set among 54 hectares of vines in a single block.
Seminars and company events
The estate sells seminars, working meetings, business meals, product launches, exhibitions and gala dinners. A small meeting can use the Salon Mosaïc, on the first floor of the former vat house built in 1877, where a five-meter table sits in the middle of the room and a lounge corner offers a quieter area. Leadership meetings and business lunches can take over La Chartreuse, an 18th-century building with three salons. The Salle Cassini, with its 60 m² terrace over the vines, suits a seminar day or a business meal. The Cuvier Astéries, the working vat room, takes the larger formats.
An events manager, Claire Ballarin, oversees the event spaces, from interior design to running the day. Visits and tastings of the estate can be added to a program.
Weddings and receptions
For weddings the estate offers reception rooms for up to 200 guests and outdoor areas for a secular ceremony, a wine reception or a cocktail among the vines and landscaped gardens. The Salle Cassini takes up to 60 guests for a smaller wedding, with its terrace for drinks or an outdoor dinner. The Cuvier Astéries takes up to 200 and offers two settings: exposed stone on one side, a contemporary space around the vats on the other. Tables can be set in rounds or as one long table. With beds on site, a wedding can run over a weekend.
Rooms and capacities
The figures below are the two numbers the estate gives for each room. The Cuvier Astéries: 300 m², 250 and 300 guests. The Salle Cassini: 70 m², 35 and 60 guests, plus a 60 m² terrace. La Chartreuse: 110 m², 30 and 60 guests, over three salons. The Salon Mosaïc: 60 m², 14 and 40 guests. The gardens, terraces and paths add outdoor space for receptions.
Accommodation
The estate has 23 beds in total. Three guest rooms in the château sleep up to eight people: the Suite Mosaïc with a balcony over the garden, the Suite Terrasse with a private terrace, and the Chambre Grandeur Nature. Each has a private bathroom and separate toilet. An annex on the property adds 15 beds. Breakfast is available as an extra.
Catering
The estate works with local partners rather than a single in-house caterer. It names the chefs Camille Courcelle, Thibaut Servas, Aurélien Mallia and Matthieu Detchart, the caterers Cocotte Mijote, Lacoste, Humblot and My Terroir, and the florist Loy Kapel. A private table, where a chef prepares food and wine pairings from local produce, can be booked for small groups.
History and setting
The Salle Cassini takes its name from the family of astronomers and mapmakers whose map of France was the first to show the place called La Garde. The vineyard runs from a stream, an orchard, a pond and woodland up to a gravel plateau, and the cellar looks out over it. A team of 11 runs the estate under its managing director, Pénélope Godefroy.
Getting there
The estate is about 20 to 30 minutes by car from Bordeaux, according to its own pages.
