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Bordeaux Producers
Name: Bordeaux
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At one of Pauillac’s highest spots, with plots next to Latour (overlooking the Gironde) and to Pichon-Baron (on the Bages plateau), Haut-Bages Liberal has always enjoyed great terroir. But even that is not enough to explain the quality of recent vintages here. Jane Anson calls owner Claire Villars ‘one of the most exciting winemakers in Bordeaux’, and the work that Claire has been doing here is remarkable. She has completely transitioned the estate to biodynamic viticulture.
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There are a few things that make Haut-Bailly special. There`s the fact that nearly 15% of the vines are still prephylloxera, that it is one of the few Pessac-Leognan properties not to make white wine, that it has soil that actually contributes to that rare thing in Bordeaux - real sense of terroir. That soil is sandy seabed stuffed with shellfish fossils. As a property it is less than 150 years old and like many Bordeaux estates has seen its fair share of ups, downs and idiosyncratic owners.
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In 1942, the Batailley estate was divided into two, so that two brothers could each have their own part. One half continued under the name Batailley, and the other (smaller) part was re-christened Haut-Batailley. Like Batailley itself, Haut-Batailley is a fifth growth under the terms of the 1855 classification, as a continuation of an 1855 classified estate. For decades, it was ably managed (but not owned) by Francois-Xavier Borie (who owns Grand-Puy-Lacoste), and in 2006 he began a huge renovation of the wine-making facilities and cellars.
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This property dates back to the fifteenth century, though the earliest mention in English is the celebrated entry in Pepys` diary in 1663 to Chateau Haut-Brion`s wine bar in the City of London. It is now the only Bordeaux chateau to be owned by Euro-aristos, with the holding company being controlled by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, or Bobby deluxe as he`s known in the trade. Haut-Brion is the only Pessac/Graves chateau to be mentioned in the 1855 Medoc classification as well as its local one. -
La Conseillante is at the cusp of the very top tier of the Pomerol appellation. It ought to be, given its neighbours; L’Evangile to the east, Petrus to the north, Vieux Chateau Certan to the north-west and Cheval Blanc across the road. The name comes from one Madame Catherine Conseillan, who in the early eighteenth century acquired vineyards with the current boundaries from an earlier estate being broken up. -
Another wine that starts lean and adds plumpness, this is an estate that has returned to sparkling form after a period in the doldrums. In fact it is only 35 years since the whole estate and vineyards had to be reinstated from scratch; the vines have an average age of 25 years. Merlot is 80% and Cabernet Franc 15%, as befits a property adjacent to Cheval-Blanc. Michel Rolland is the consulting oenologist but at this property the trademark overripe lushness is avoided./CW
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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. -
The land that the Labegorce estate now sits on entered recorded history when a certain Duke William of Acquitaine made it his own. The Duke had no known achievements in winemaking but is remembered as an early troubadour and for leading an army in the 1101 ‘Crusade of the Faint-Hearted’, which didn’t go at all well. Vines arrived in the 17th century, and in the 18th century the name Labegorce arrived as a corruption of L’Abbe Gorce, ‘Abbot Gorce’, the Abbot in question being an owner for a while. When the Revolution arrived, the Labegorce estate was large and successful.
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An Uncorked favourite for quality, value and sheer drinkability, Lafaurie-Peyraguey never makes blockbuster Sauternes but rather elegant and food friendly wines at home with the foie gras as much as the Roquefort or Tarte Tatin. The Chateau itself is a proper castle, not some effete house for courtiers or their modern counterparts grocers and builders to entertain in. At once imposing and bizarre, it was constructed in the 13th century but didn`t establish a reputation for fine wine until the mid nineteenth century./CW
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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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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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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 it is a fifth-growth property that annually outperforms many officially much higher ranked wines.
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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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On the face of it Ch Meyney has an excellent position on the same gravel ridge as neighbour Montrose on the bank of the Gironde estuary, yet it has never achieved quite the same heights - or prices! It has a longer history than Montrose or many neighbours, being mentioned in the early 16th century nad being taken over by a reforming branch of the Cistercin order. The original buildings burned and the current ones date from 1662.
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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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It is still fairly unusual for the owners of Bordeaux Chateaux to have properties from both sides of the admittedly broad river in their portfolio. One sticks to what one knows. Ch Nenin however is owned by a branch of the same Delons who also own Leoville-Las Cases. Perhaps what attracted them was the size of the estate, which is of generous Medoc proportions rather than the smaller norm in Pomerol. Although we think of Pomerol as being a Merlot AOC, there is enough gravel here to warrant 40% of Cabernet Franc - a similar situation to that at Cheval Blanc.
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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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Here`a rarity, a Bordeaux chateau moving seamlessly from one quality oriented owner to another. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, whom Stephen Brook aptly describes as warm hearted but imperious, presided over the estate for many years after the death of her husband and had a reputation for acting like Chelsea and sacking managers she felt to be underperforming. Under pressure from other shareholders to sell, she finally passed the reins to Champagne Roederer in 2006. There is continuity.
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Pontet-Canet as we know it today dates from the mid seventies. Prior to that it had been owned and mismanaged by a series of impoverished or ignorant duffers. In 1975 it was bought by Cognac producer Guy Tesseron, whose son Alfred is now owner. Equally importantly Jean-Michel Comme was appointed manager and he has taken Pontet-Canet to full biodynamic status and ever increasing heights of quality. And for a fifth growth, it is now one of the most sought after wines in the whole region.
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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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Originally a Benedictine foundation but owned by the legendary Alexis Lichine for nearly forty years and by his son for another ten, Prieure-Lichine has always had a good reputation for its wine. For those many years, it produced wines that were typical of the Margaux appellation, without necessarily being the most exciting. The Ballande group, a family with many interests in the wine business, and their director Justin Onclin are looking to change this.
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The fall and rise of a great Margaux is in this case measured over a nearly 140 year period. In the 1855 classification Rauzan-Segla was ranked in the top ten of Bordeaux properties but in the 20th century in particular suffered from a succession of poor owners ranging from the lazy and complacent to the downright crooked. 1994 was the turning point when it was bought by Chanel, who poached John Kolasa from Chateau Latour and installed him as cellarmaster. Immediately out went machine harvesting and archaic manual cellar practices.
