Just a stone's throw away from the city of Bordeaux, Château Haut-Bailly, one of the most prestigious Cru Classé de Graves, sits majestically in a 30 hectare (74 acres) vineyard at the heart of the Graves region on the left bank of the river Garonne. If great wine results from a harmonious relationship between man, the vine, and nature, then the subtlest of these three elements is the soil. Positioned on a high ridge of land excellent for drainage, the soil is sandy and mixed with gravel, sitting on a layer of sandstone petrified with the remains of prehistoric fossil shells. Also, a fair share of sunshine, wind, humidity and cooling climate contributes to the special character in Haut-Bailly wine.

Pessac-Léognan is a wine growing area and Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, in the northern part of the Graves region of Bordeaux. Unlike most Bordeaux appellations, Pessac-Léognan is recognised for both red and (dry) white wine, although red wine is still predominant. It includes the only red-wine producer outside the Haut-Médoc classified in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, the premier cru Château Haut-Brion, and also all of the châteaux listed in the 1953/59 classification of Graves. These classed growths account for a third of the wine produced in Pessac-Léognan.