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Bordeaux Producers
Name: Bordeaux
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In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, one wine that was not from the Medoc but rather Pessac was also admitted; Haut -Brion. Its Pessac neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion was not granted a similar special admission. Yet if any wine from Pessac also deserves first growth status, it is La Mission Haut-Brion.
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It’s easy to get excited about the classified stars in the Bordeaux firmament but these aren’t the wines we drink on a weekly basis. Some of them are so far out of reach they are wines we can only dream of drinking.
Tour de By is the antidote to that. Situated pretty much on the banks of the Gironde on a high gravel outcrop, north of St-Estephe, planted to 70% Cabernet, 25% Merlot & 5% Petit Verdot. Well drained very poor soil gives it ideal growing conditions and improvements in vineyard practice over the past few years have put the final touches to what is a very well managed property. -
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Austere and evasive in youth but deeply profound in age, Lafite is one of the five Medoc First Growths, and one of the two owned by branches of the Rothschild family. It is one of the oldest estates in Bordeaux - the ‘Seigneurie de la Hite’ domaine is noted on a document from 1234, though in those days it was all about cereal and cattle. Vineyards were not seriously laid out here until the 1680s, at the hands of Jacques de Segur, who laid out what would become many of Bordeaux’s great vineyards.
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Few Bordeaux chateaux are more associated with a particular colour than St-Estephe fourth growth Lafon-Rochet; both the chateau itself and the label on the bottle are a bright shade of yellow. (It’s worth noting, though, that over in Pomerol Vieux Chateau Certan does own pink). Lafon-Rochet began as an aristocratic home and estate, though (unlike many chateaux) it was not confiscated during the Revolution. The modern world arrived in 1959, when chateau and estate were purchased by the Tesseron family.
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After an impressive showing in 1855 that saw it awarded Third Growth status, St-Julien property Lagrange suffered long years of neglect. Swathes of vineyard were sold off, and the chateau itself was gutted in a fire in the 1950s. Things finally began change in 1983, when Lagrange was bought by the Suntory Group and investment poured in. The winemaking facilities were completely modernised. The vineyard was replanted, and with new acquisitions the size of the vineyard doubled from 55 to 118 hectares (on a total 142 hectares of land), making Lagrange the largest estate in St-Julien.
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No Bordeaux classed growth has been in the hands of the same family longer than Langoa Barton; it was purchased by Thomas Barton in 1821. Of course, Leoville Barton followed into the family stable soon after, and both properties are now on their eighth generation of Bartons, with Damien Barton now working beside his sister Melanie and their mother Lilian. The two properties are inevitably defined against each other. The Leoville Barton vineyards lie in the north of St-Julien, between the chateau and the river.
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In my tiny mind Chateau Latour always seems the most stolid of the first growths, the most reliable, the one you would want on your side. Yet in recent times their radical decision to abandon the en primeur system went against current thinking and they remain alone in this. Although the estate was founded in the 15th century, the wine entreprise started around 1670.
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One might expect the three Leoville siblings - Leoville-Poyferre, Leoville-Las Cases and Leoville-Barton - to make broadly similar wines. After all, they are neighbouring estates, all in St Julien, all classified as second growths in 1855, and all once part of the very same estate, Leoville, until debt and Napoleonic-era turbulence sundered them. But with different owners and winemakers at each, they can produce radically different wines.
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The commune of St Julien may have no first-growths, but it is well served by seconds and fourths (Margaux rules the thirds).
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The Leoville plateau has long been recognised as one of the best spots in Bordeaux for producing long-lived, complex, powerful wines. Once upon a time, it was a unitary estate, for a while owned by the Marquis de Las Cases. Then came the revolution, and the estate was seized, and split into three parts, later identified as Las Cases, Barton and Poyferre. Las Cases has the heart of the old estate, the Grand Clos, which sits on gravel soils up to ten metres deep.
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Ormes is elms, Pez is the village in St-Estephe where the chateau is located; the elms of Pez. Jane Anson is effusive in her praise; ‘this has become one of the best value and most consistent estates in the whole of Bordeaux, hitting it out of the park from at least the 2014 vintage onwards’. It’s an historical property, reaching back to the sixteenth century; Jean-Charles Cazes bought it in 1940, and it has been in the hands of the Cazes family ever since, benefitting hugely from the overflow of expertise and experience from the family who also own and run the great Lynch-Bages.
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Among a certain generation Chateau Lynch-Bages used to be known affectionately as `lunch bags` on the grounds that it was cheap enough to go in one`s lunch bag. Sadly, it is no longer that cheap. (Your lunch bag may vary). But this Fifth Growth is a member of the elite club of Super Seconds, those chateaux that capture how out-of-date some aspects of the 1855 classification has become. It is also quintessential Pauillac, with a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon and all the gravel, smoke, cedar and cassis one expects in an absolutely classic left-bank Claret.
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At Leognan property Malartic-Lagraviere you are some distance from the Garonne, yet there are boats on the label of the wine. These honour a former owner, Count Hippolyte Maures de Malartic, an Admiral and a former governor of Mauritius. After the Maures de Malartic family, a hundred or so years with the Ricard family (who also owned de Fieuzal and Domaine de Chevalier) and a brief stint with Laurent-Perrier Champagne, since 1997 Malartic-Lagraviere has been owned and managed by the affable, very committed Bonnie family.
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The history of chateau Margaux is as fascinating as any in the Medoc, but the second half of the 20th century is the key. For over two decades the Ginestet wine merchant family had the place, but presided over a severe decline - eventually they fell and were forced to sell. The run of dreadful 1970s vintages finally did for them. Andre Mentzelopoulos bought it in 1977, after it had been on the market for two years.
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Before there were vines on the slope that now marks the vineyards of Montrose, there was heather. And at the right time of year, the hillside turned pink with heather flowers. Hence, Montrose – ‘mont rose’, ‘the pink slope’. Vines did not arrive here till the early 19th century, which makes Montrose one of the youngest classed growths. Yet it is also one of the best. It is often thought of as the first growth of St-Estephe, and frequently vies for the title of wine of the vintage.
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Tasting en primeur, Mouton-Rothschild invariably seems to be opulent, rich, flambuoyant, the anitithesis of the other Rothschild First Growth, severe, austere Lafite. Mouton is one of the very few properties to be in the hands of the same family now as it was at the time of the 1855 classification (only Leoville and Langoa Barton enjoy that same historical continuity). Mouton took shape from the inheritance of Nicolas-Alexandre de Segur, who in his time had owned and created many of Bordeaux’s greatest estates. In 1720, one Joseph de Brane bought Mouton, and rechristened it Brane Mouton.
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Named after one of Wellington`s generals, Charles Palmer owned this Chateau for nearly thirty years until 1843. A bit of a charmer, he intercepted the young widow on her way to the sale of her property and ended up with a bargain and who knows what else. Unfortunately, the general ended up as one of those who made a small fortune in the wine trade by starting out with an enormous one and his investments in Ch Palmer nearly bankrupted him. The only reason that Palmer has such a lowly position in the 1855 classification is that the subsequent owners had little time to put things right. -
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It is ‘a star in the appellation,’ according to Jane Anson, which would ‘make it into a new version of the 1855 classification if one ever came around’. Neal Martin calls it ‘quintessentially Saint-Estephe’. Quality is soaring at Phelan-Segur, and that is reflected in the scores it has been achieving. The terroir has always been good; the largest and best vineyard plot is adjacent to Montrose, although there is another excellent and significant section alongside Calon-Segur. While ownership changed in 2017, the steady hand of Director Veronique Dausse remained on the tiller.
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Pichon Lalande is easily one of the greatest wines of the Medoc, frequently vying with and sometimes exceeding the first growths in quality. It has its roots in the Pichon estate, which was split in 1850 into the two parts thereafter known as Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande. From 1978 until 2007, Pichon Lalande was owned and managed by the redoubtable May Eliane de Lencquesaing. A powerful ambassador for Bordeaux worldwide, she oversaw many great vintages, the expansion of the vineyard and the rising profile of Pichon Lalande.
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What is now Pichon Baron originally formed part of the same estate as Pichon Lalande. In 1850, on his deathbed, Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville split his estate into two. 20 hectares went to his two sons, and were thereafter known as Pichon Baron, and 30 hectares went to his three daughters, and thereafter became Pichon (Comtesse de) Lalande.
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A powerful trend-setter, pioneering in its early adoption of biodynamics, over the last twenty years Fifth Growth Pontet-Canet has soared into the league of Super Seconds. Alfred Tesseron and Estate Director Jean-Michel Comme have unlocked the potential of this chateau whose vineyards abut those of Mouton-Rothschild, and the wines of Pontet-Canet demand serious respect, and time in your cellar.
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Even when the family already owns Leoville-Las Cases it does no harm to marry a lady with a very nice estate of her own and that is what Paul Delon did. It is quite a large property and like many at this end of the Medoc has gradually been planting more Merlot to take into account proper surveys of the land, which does have extensive clay deposits. Yields here are low by Medoc standards at a maximum of 35hl/ha and tannins are kept suave by a policy of cooler fermentation while quality is assured by the fact that almost half the production is diverted into the second wine.
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Rauzan-Ségla is one of the finest properties in Bordeaux, occupying great terroir in Margaux, comfortably at the top of the table of Second Growths, and currently enjoying one of the great periods of its history after twenty years of investment and very focussed management. It emerged in the seventeenth century at the same time as many of the other great estates of the Médoc were taking shape. Inheritance divided the Rauzan estate into Rauzan-Ségla and the lesser Rauzan-Gassies in the early eighteenth century. By the end of the century, Rauzan-Ségla was famous worldwide.
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Now biodynamic, Chateau Senejac has gone from being a lightish luncheon claret to a lower yielding, deeper and fuller wine that much better demonstrates its inland terroir and the high proportion of the Cabernet grapes here. The improvements wrought by Alfred Tesseron and the team from cult Chateau Pontet-Canet have really changed the vineyard and therefore the wines for the better and for pure drinking pleasure this is a buy.
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Siran has been in the Miailhe family for over 150 years and has a distinct grape mix, with high proportions of both Merlot and Petit Verdot and less than half Cabernet Sauvignon. This gives the wine real stuffing, moderated these days by a relatively short spell of just over a year in oak, 40% new, in order to allow the purity and finesse of the wine through. Arguably 2004 was a turning point for the property, when Denis Dubourdieu was appointed as the consultant and quality has improved from an already high level since then. /CW 20/05/10
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When Jean Gautreau bought Sociando-Mallet in 1969 he must have been affected by the romance of the summer of love and the `evenements` at the time, for the property had little in its favour but potential. Ant that`s potential in an estate agent sense. The area down to vines was a rump of the land and the buildings were virtual wrecks. There has been no hint of any of that for years and years now and Sociando even withdrew from the revised Cru Bourgeois system in 2003, such is the confidence in the stature of the property and its wine.
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The name Chateau Talbot evokes a poignant moment in Bordeaux history. In the 15th century, the estate was the property of one John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and Governor of Acquitaine. He led the English charge at the 1453 Battle of Castillon, in what would prove to be the final engagement of the Hundred Years’ War. The charge failed, and Talbot was finished off by a French soldier with a battleaxe. After 340 years of English rule, Bordeaux was back in the hands of the French, there to remain. But the French seemed to grudgingly admire him, and Chateau Talbot retains his name to this day.
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In 2017, a change in ownership at St-Emilion property Troplong Mondot was accompanied by a dramatic change in style. With a thick layer of clay laid over the limestone, Troplong has a naturally powerful terroir. The previous owners had leaned into that, and made a wine marked by a ripe, extracted style. But new winemaker Aymeric de Gironde, aided by consultant Thomas Duclos, has turned that around, and since 2017 the style here has been to rein in the natural power of the terroir for a more elegant, sculpted style. Troplong is still not shy, but it is much more balanced.
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Now you see it, now you don`t. Vineyard or pine plantation? However since the late 1860s this has been a wine estate and in both red and white wines a hugely successful one. There is one fly in the ointment though, like Volnay and Pommard, their particular micro-climate seems to attract incredibly localised hailstorms. Not desirable. Otherwise the estate fashions its highly praised wines from, for the reds, a 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc mix, though obviously the proportions vary from vintage to vintage. -
While it’s odd (though not unique) to find a winery in Bordeaux referred to as a ‘domaine’, the full official name of this property is actually Chateau du Domaine de l’Eglise. Either way, it’s the oldest property in Pomerol, with records that date it to 1589, when it was a hospice for lepers. The church it was named after no longer stands. When the Casteja family of wine merchants acquired Domaine de l’Eglise in 1973, that was the first time it had changed hands since the Revolution. The vines are well-sited, some next to the chateau, some on the plateau around Clinet and L’Eglise-Clinet.
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It’s got a 12th century tower, and it’s near the village of Martillac – the name of this Pessac property is virtually the address. This being Pessac, there’s both a red and white wine. The red vines are mostly planted across the gravelly soils of the Martillac plateau, while the white vines and the Merlot are planted across a clay-limestone outcrop. In reds, the vineyard is split 55% Cabernet Sauvignon/40% Merlot/5% Petit Verdot, and in whites 60% Sauvignon Blanc/40% Semillon. There are some venerable Semillon vines that date all the way back to 1884.
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Today, Le Pin is such a well-established member of the pantheon of the world’s greatest wines, it’s interesting to recall that it wasn’t always thus. Under its previous owner, a Mme F Loubie, the wine had been blended with lesser wines and sold exclusively in Belgium as Clos du Pin. Mme Loubie wanted to sell it to Leon Thienpont so that he could join it with Vieux Chateau Certan but, with six children to support, there was no way Leon could afford it. In 1978, Mme Loubie died.
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The Cotes de Castillon lies on the eastward extension of the plateau underpinning St-Emilion. The soils in the area are mixed, but the high concentration of clay and limestone around what was then called Chateau Goubau caught the eye of none other than Jacques Thienpont, owner of Le Pin and L’If. ‘These soils keeps the roots of the vines cool, so the wines are fresh,’ says Jacques. When Chateau Goubau came up for sale, Jacques and his sister Anne de Raeymaeker pounced, and purchased it. Their first vintage was 2016. He named it L`Hetre, continuing his `family tree` motif.
