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Ausone is perched at the top of a limestone cliff on the eastern flank of St-Emilion, and with only 7 hectares of vineyards, rarity as much as its exquisite reputation contribute to the astronomical price the wine can command. Nobody knows for certain if what is now Ausone was once the site of the villa of the Roman poet Ausonius, who spent his youth and his retirement locally. From time to time, Roman pottery turns up in the vineyard, and the foundations of a Roman Villa have been discovered at the foot of the slope.
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From the same stable as St-Estephe stablemate Calon-Segur, with the same management and winemaking team, Capbern has always been a bit of a wine trade insider secret. Prior to 2013, it was called Capbern-Gasqueton (the double barrel referencing the two important families in its story) but that was clipped back to Capbern under new management. Both Calon-Segur and Capbern were under the control of the Capbern-Gasqueton family by the late 1900s, and stayed there throughout the 20th century.
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In the modern world only gynaecologists and Christian Seely can get away with bow ties. Seely is the professorial managing director of AXA`s wine division and nearly lost Petit Village when, as the Bordeaux rumour mill has it Gerard Perse tried to buy it. Fortunately the deal fell through and there is still a little outpost of the Medoc in Pomerol. Like Medoc, Petit Village`s soils are stony and gravel dominated and the Cabernets together make up 25% of the blend. But then, with neighbours like Cheval Blanc, Figeac and Vieux Chateau Certan, that is not a surprise.
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Chateau Angelus has the unique distinction of having occupied every rung of the St-Emilion classification at one point or another in its history. In 2012, the Chateau celebrated its promotion to the very top tier, Premier Grand Cru Classe A, with a black bottle embossed with 21-carat gold-imprinted script. But ten years later, in 2022, it announced that it had decided to keep company with Ausone and Cheval Blanc in abandoning the classification altogether. Was it no longer exclusive enough? The chateaux concerned voiced complaints about the selection criteria.
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Angludet is many people’s touchstone Margaux, unforced and perfumed. It is a former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, though the Sichel family who own it no longer choose to present it to the Cru Bourgeois classification. The chateau is set in a bucolic stretch of south-west Margaux, 3 kilometres inland from the river. It owes its roots to a 12th century knight, Bertrand of Angludet, who build his house here. Vines were probably first planted in the 17th century. It looked like that was finally over after the great frost of 1956, when the extreme winter cold killed most of the vines.
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Right next door to Mouton, Fifth Growth Armailhac has a little more sand in its soils, which means if it is a little less powerful than the majestic neighbour, it is also refined and finely textured – and usually ready to drink earlier. It tends to offer excellent Pauillac typicity, in a lighter style. Armailhac has been part of the Mouton stable since Baron Philippe de Rothschild bought it in 1933. Since then, it has gone through more than a few name changes.
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Quintessential Pauillac. For many people, Batailley is their touchstone Bordeaux property, offering textbook lead pencil shavings, blackcurrant and cassis, tobacco, and a gravelly minerality. That gravelly note should be no surprise. The Batailley plateau sits on extremely deep gravel beds. The plateau and the chateau are both named for a battle that took place here in 1452, towards the end of the Hundred Years’ War. English troops, who had been holed up at nearby Latour, crossed the plateau on their retreat only to be routed by French soldiers. Relations are much friendlier these days.
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Beau-Sejour Becot has had a good last 2000 years. It was the Romans who first started cultivating vines at this spot on the limestone plateau of St-Emilion – the modern estate has cut Roman stone to prove it. In the Middle Ages, the monks of St. Martin’s Abbey in St-Emilion carried on doing the same. After the Revolution, the land moved into private hands and the estate formed here was christened Beau-Sejour. A hundred years or so later, an inheritance saw it split it two. One half became what is now Chateau Beausejour-Duffau-Lagarosse.
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