Château Crabitey is situated in the town of Portets, a flagship wine-growing area in the Graves area of Bordeaux.
The Château was built in 1872 by Franciscan nuns who used it as an orphanage. The nuns planted vines in order to provide an income for the children in their care in 1882. After being in the hands of the church for more than 100 years, the estate was entrusted to Jean-Ralph de Butler. He restructured and extended the vineyards, and also built a new winery. In 1998, Jean-Ralph's son, Arnaud, succeeded his father and purchased the estate in full in 2008.
The vineyards of the Graves benefit from the cooling influence of the Garonne River just to east, and the deep gravel soils add minerality and complexity to the wines.
The name "Crabitey" come from the name "Crabit" (a goat in occitan and gascon dialect) and "-ey" (meaning "little"). So Crabitey litteray means "small goat" and this name has been given to this location for hundreds of years as it can be seen in the map of Cassini from the XVIII Century (18th Century).
