I am again back at you with one of most fluid passions, wines. Of course not just any wine but the Médoc! And not just Bordeaux as if you have read my blog should know it is a genetic name covering a very large area north south, east of the city of Bordeaux! My favs are the Médoc! I am updating this older post with new text and links for you and me, Of course, this post will be in my black and white series, no pictures, Therefore, let me tell you briefly on the wines of the Médoc, Bordeaux !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
For the record, I am certified diploma from ICEX the Commercial office of Spain abroad and SOPEXA, Food and Wines from France; as well as working for a large wines store chain in charge of the ordering and inventory of the store; the ABC chain in Florida. Later on ,in France worked for a multinational with a wine distribution division with branches in other countries too including USA . The library or god of wine book, mostly for the pros, but I do have a copy is Marc-Henry Lemay, Bordeaux et ses vins Editions Ferret 1995, 15th edition! purchase in 1999 for 150 USDollars. It has a prologue by Montesquieu. This book tells you all the wine houses in Bordeaux since their foundation ! History of grapes, wines making methods you name it is here, The book was purchase at Pierre Books, Aventura, Fl USA who were Francophone Belgians friends Pierre and Vivienne ; unfortunately it has been years the store has closed and we lost contact with them.
The Médoc is in the Gironde department 33 of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. There are three parts to it: Bas-Médoc, Haut-Médoc and Landes, and two terroirs, the famous Médoc vineyard along the estuary, and Landes du Médoc towards the ocean. The coast is dotted with small seaside resorts: Soulac, Montalivet, Carcans, Hourtin or Lacanau, (see posts) ,which is wonderful and many times with the family here. The Médoc vineyard includes the following appellations: Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint -Julien, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis-en-Médoc and Margaux. Of course, the best in the world !!! At precisely the 45th parallel, with both micro-properties and vast wine estates, the temperate oceanic climate here encourages vine growth. The red grapes are about 66% Merlot, 22,5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9,5% Cabernet Franc, 2% others, ( Carménère, Malbec, and Petit Verdot), The white grapes are about 45% Sémillon, 43% Sauvignon Blanc, 5¨% Muscadelle, 7% others,(Colombard, Merlot Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, and Ugni Blanc) You have here some other classifications from the famous 1855, this when Napoléon III in the Universal Exposition of Paris asked for each wine region to establish a classification, The Crus Bourgeois AOC Du Médoc :The crus bourgeois are gathered in a list by the Bordeaux brokers, under the aegis of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture in 1932. And the classication of the Crus Artisans du Médoc. 36 AOC crus artisans. In Médoc, the name crus artisans has existed for over 150 years: these small wine estates often belonged to artisans: coopers, wheelwrights or farriers.
The Bordeaux wine world is divided into sections based on quality, historical trends and efforts by the winegrowers to showcase their particular area. Crus Artisans Small artisan producers of the Médoc; Crus Bourgeois For producers in the Médoc based on quality assessment of regional character ; Crus Classés de Graves .A classification of producers in Graves from 1953 (amended in 1959); Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion .A classification of top quality producers in Saint-Émilion that is revisited every ten years, includes 85 properties in its most recent 2022 version. Crus Classés de 1855. A 5-tier classification of producers in Médoc and Graves (and sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac) from 1855. One producer moved up a tier in 1973 (Mouton-Rothschild).
Some brief description of what it is a Bordeaux « château »: There is a word in Bordeaux call castle or château very confusing to some, especially those not from the wine trade or passionate as I. There is a « château viticole » ; it designate the wine and the property that produces it, The name on the label does not mean that it is a castle from the architectural point of view as there are some castles that are simple homes without having an influence on the high and low quality of the wine, A total of over 115k hectares with about 4K properties that have on their label the word castle Château. First in the property you have the master house normally rectangular in shape with small towers and decorative elements ; the wings holds the most important facade. Then you have the commons ,which could be attach to the master house in U shape or apart, This is for the animals, stables etc. Then, you have the vinification buildings ,which could be near or apart, with industrial materials like bricks, metal poles, for the vats and cellars. You have the vat where the juice is put to ferment in older days of wood or stone, and today of concrete or stainless steel, and sometimes a press on the same building. The cellars house the barrils where the wine is aged before putting them in the bottle. The big properties have a large personnel that have rooms for them such as in the Château Margaux, You have gardens, to make the castle look in a natural environment, There are chapels apart from the above buildings and sometimes in the extension of a wing;this tell us the merchants speak with God without passing by a priest or parish such as the Chapelle de Château Loudenne. Today the cellars are a work of art build by the great masters of architecture such as those in the Château-Rothschild work of Ricardo Bofill (RIP) or Egyptians lines like the Château Pichon-Longueville done by Jean de Gastines and Patrick Dillon.
I like to give a brief rundown of some of my favorites properties over the years, (see Mouton-Rothschilds post),
The Château Haut-Brion built in the middle of the 16C, the master house is rectangular from the times of Jean de Pontac by 3 corner towers of which one is gone, The facade is in one floor with reduce decorations and old fashion renaissance look. One of the owners of this castle was Talleyrand for four years between 1801 and 1804.
The Château Margaux, in neo classic or neo palladien style in an antique decoration baptised the « Versailles of the Médoc » built between 1810 and 1816. The master house is like a theater on adriveway of plane trees , the facade has 30 bays on four levels with in the middle a monumental stair and at its feet two sphinxes looking like the guardians of the place. The front has four iconic columns of great majesty, It has nice commons as mentioned above, The anecdote here is that after the French revolution the castle is acquired by immigrant Spaniard Bertrand Douat , Marquis de la Colonilla, and later in 1816 it passes by another Spaniard Alexandre Aguado and in 1977 to a Greek André Mentzelopoulus, it is his daughter Corinne at the commands today.
The Château de Beychevelle. In the 17C, ships lowered their sails , bécha véla, in Gascon in honor of the owner, the Duke of Epernon, Grand Admiral of France and Governor of Guyenne. By the greatest of luck, its label adorned with a griffin-bow ship recalls the dragon boat, a sacred emblem in China.Located in Saint-Julien-Beychevelle on the D2 road . Located in the AOC Saint-Julien, classified fourth grand cru in the 1855 classification. Over 250 hectares wirh 90 ha of vines of the Grands Millésimes de France property, owned equally by the French spirits groups Castel and Japanese Suntory. The first castle was built in 1565 .The castle was rebuilt in 1757 by the Marquis de Brassier de Brudot. The family of Brassier, baron of Beychevelle, will give its first letters of marque to the wine of Beychevelle during the 18C. The the banker Armand Heine gave it to his daughter, Marie-Louise, who will marry Achille Fould. It is then that the dynasty of the Achille Fould family from 1890, and over three generations with in particular Aymar Achille-Fould, will be at the origin of Beychevelle’s prestige. In 1986, on the latter’s death, the GMF and Suntory bought the entire estate from the Achille-Fould family .Beychevelle is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful castles and parks in Bordeaux.
The Suntory Group also own Château Lagrange, 3rd classified growth, these two, the only ones not managed by a family. With its quadruple-column porch, the current building dates from 1824. It was built by one of Branaire’s descendants, Louis Duluc, who together with his brother Justin participated in the fame of the estate and its classification in 1855. They are the fourth family of owners . François Xavier Maroteaux now manages the Château Branaire-Ducru on behalf of their family group. A vineyard with a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (28%), Petit Verdot (5%) and Cabernet Franc (4%). The four noble grape varieties of Saint-Julien. New projects are being undertaken, including the construction of a 100% gravity-fed cellar with 65 tanks. But, he is also the spokesperson for his peers. Elected to the post left vacant by his father as President of the Syndicat viticole de Saint-Julien , where decisions are taken unanimously, each counting as one vote, regardless of its size,
The Château Gloria was born artificially from this puzzle of prestigious lands. As a castle, a locality, the row of workers’ houses called “Gloria” at the entrance to the village. In 1982, the family acquired Château Saint-Pierre, a 4th classified growth . With its 17 ha, the smallest of the city/town hall for which the worldwide notoriety of Château Gloria has ironically in the life of the brands long served as a lever. It is so sometimes with names.
Who would have thought that the venerated Château Talbot (107 ha), named in honor of an English constable who took part in the Battle of Castillon in 1453 At Talbot, in the extraordinary kitchen with trompe-l’oeil wood paneling, the plates are stuck to the ceiling. A joke on the part of Nancy Bignon-Cordier and her sister Lorraine Cordier, who died in 2011. Great-granddaughters of Désiré Cordier, they presided over the creation of the second wine, Connétable Talbot, in the 1970s and at the creation of a cellar with concrete beams in the shape of a ramage. Château Talbot was a vacation home for girls. And one of my all time favorites.
Nowadays, a panoramic tower with ultra contemporary lines has replaced the ancient earthenware treasure of Château Gruaud Larose. Highlight of the wine tourism offer of the 2e cru Classé in a rather reserved appellation in this area, the belvedere was inaugurated in 2015. Culminating at 18 meters in height, the mirror-stainless steel building with a glass elevator reflects the variations of the Medoc azure. At a glance, you embrace the 82-hectare vineyard in one piece, but also the panorama extending to the Gironde river. The 17C castle, the cellars and the creamy and fragrant bushes of Gruaud Larose rosebushes created in 2016 in honor of the king of wines and wine of kings. Even further, the paluts or wet meadows along the river. On the west side, the Jalle du Nord and the Port-Bouey farm, where the sheep for grazing graze.
At the age of 27, the grandson of Anthony Barton, 88 years old and youngest son of Lilian Barton Sartorius, is one of the new faces of Saint-Julien with his sister Mélanie. As if the family of Irish origin still relishes the recent pride of Château Léoville Barton’s ,More than two hundred years after the arrival of his grandfather Thomas Barton in 1722 in Bordeaux as a merchant and the acquisition in 1821 by his grandson Hugh Barton of the charming charterhouse of “Langoa” (20 ha of vines) then of the 50 ha opposite which form Léoville Barton, the line is one of the oldest in Saint-Julien. Hired in 1940 as a liaison with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, he found his estate in a deplorable state after the Nazi occupation. In Langoa Ronald offers his nephew Anthony Barton to join him with the intention of bequeathing him the estates. Anthony Barton’s Fine Wines, while tending to the vineyards. Lilian joined him in 1978 and now it’s Damien and Mélanie. A beautiful family story where the traditions perpetuated from generation to generation make the style.
Thus, Châterau Léoville Poyferré (80 ha), prestigious 2nd classified growth over which Sara Lecompte Cuvelier has been watching since 2018 following her cousin David Cuvelier. between members of the same family from the Nord who are preparing to celebrate the centenary of the acquisition of the star cru of Saint-Julien. Because let us not forget that with Léoville Barton and Léoville Las Cases (98 ha), the three current Léovilles formed only one in the beginning. In other words, the largest wine estate in the Médoc in the 17C. Knights, marquis, nobility, immense fortune. The French revolution goes through this, forced immigration, requisition by the State, fair division between the heirs who ultimately tear each other apart. Expropriations and quarrels forever get the better of the land and the Charterhouse, split in two. About 3/5 of the former domain and, its original heart. A 55 hectare enclosure surrounded by walls at the exit of the village of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle on the way to Pauillac. Here, closely glued to the Château Latour vineyard, venerated Premier Cru of Pauillac, from which it is separated only by a jalle or small stream, the Grand Vin de Léoville Marquis de Las Cases flourishes. An iconic Médoc, 2e grand cru considered as a 1er. What it probably would have been if family bickering had not played their part in the 19C. But this hybrid status is not to displease; for consumers, Las Cases is a cheaper Premier Cru. For merchants, a 2nd which costs skin and bones.
This is a bit more on the Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, one of my favorites chateaux of the Médoc. The owner Bruno-Eugène Borie presents an extended range. Before, there was Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, the estate’s illustrious first wine. There is now Madame de Beaucaillou, from its Haut-Médoc lands, a fruity initiation wine that should be drunk young, the guarantee of a signature for 10,000 cases per year. And then there is always La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou, a second, which does not have the name but above all a high-end, powerful, and fragrant cuvée. Next to it, we find Le Petit Ducru, the third wine of the family, whose 2019 present very round and silky tannins. These wines, very precise and very pure, can be consumed now or later. It is technical progress and the production of perfect berries that have given them the possibility of making it. A good range, a nice commercial arsenal indeed! All these changes should be crowned with the erection of a new cellar, XXL size, intended to accommodate the grapes from 105 hectares of vines of which 95 are planted. For the image, there is still the castle, an old Gironde house to which a Directoire façade was added during the 19C, then the park, with its gazebos designed for courteous games and joyful tasting. The interior of the main building has just been redesigned, superb, in tune with the times. It has huge rooms where the works acquired over time by Bruno-Eugène Borie stand. We meet Bacchus and Hermès there!! Gorgeous indeed!
The Château Batailley is a 55 hectare wine estate located in Pauillac in Gironde. Located in AOC Pauillac, it is classified fifth grand cru in the official classification of Bordeaux wines of 1855. The name of this property comes from the word Battle which took place in 1453 on the vineyards and the Château. It was the 100 years war. During this war, the French reconquered Château Latour which was occupied by the English and which marked the end of the British reign in Aquitaine. In the 17C, vines were planted on these lands rich in history. The grounds of the Château were designed in the 19C by Barillet-Deschamps, landscape designer for Napoleon III. Batailley is a classic Pauillac, with a deep ruby color, well structured and pronounced notes of cassis. It is now owned by Borie-Manoux house of traders.
The Château Prieuré-Lichine, formerly Château Prieuré-Cantenac, is a wine estate located in Cantenac in Gironde. In AOC margaux, it is classified fourth grand cru in the official classification of Bordeaux wines of 1855. Former priory, the estate was created in the 15C by the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Vertheuil. Confiscated and put up for sale during the French revolution, the Château Prieuré-Cantenac passed into the hands of many families before being bought in 1951 by Alexis Lichine, who renamed the estate two years later. Alexis Lichine, of American-Russian origin, is known to be the author of the Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits. He endowed his wine with new terroirs, modernized the existing facilities and renovated the estate. When he died in 1989, his son took over the estate until 1999, when the Ballande family took over.
A brief history of the Classification of 1855 Bordeaux tell us that in 1855, on orders of emperor Napoléon III on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Paris that he asked for a classification of the crus of Médoc. 61 properties divided in 5 levels were created; a club one of the world’s closed and private company that has never has been put to doubts, except in 1973 when Mouton-Rothschild moves up from 2nd to Premier cru classé. The classification provides an excellent tool for promotion that rarely if ever is challenge. Even thus, Bordeaux stay a land ready for recherche and advice. There are many many vineyards that took the example of Bordeaux to improve their quality, including hiring consultants from Bordeaux such as Michel Rolland, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Hubert de Boüard or Eric Boissenot. They have gone to the USA, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Greece, Lebanon, even India and China to export the know how of the Bordelais wines. And of course, many countries in Europe ! Bordeaux, is this incredible machine capable thanks to its 120.000 hectares of vineyards propose the whole of the wine markets a quality wine in all the brands levels and price. As long as the actors of the Bordeaux wine scene keep producing crus capable of attract consumers to it, Bordeaux will remain the reference in the World. The 1855 Classification of Bordeaux : https://gcc-1855.fr/en/
A bit of history I like tell us that the fashion of the châteaux viticoles left the Médoc to gain other appellations, It was here that before the 17-18C appears the designation more often the reconvertion of a agricultural domain, The 19C created a frenzy to built these castles first in the Médoc then in other appellations like Saint Emilion, Sauternes, and Fronsac, etc, The castles were built with a commercial eye with theatrical decorations, beautiful architecture that represented the quality of wines to the public, A very modern approach in the 19C. The concept of « Bourdieu » understood to be the exploitation of an agricultural domain including the house and its dependencies, They were administered by a manager and it was developped rapidly from the 16C on the banks of the Garonne and the Gironde, An example exist in Barsac with the Maison forte de la Sallasse , a fortified house. This one dates from the 14C very well preserve to our days, It is said to be built in 1340 still under English domination with a defensive wall today gone.
The commercial boom came in the 18C with the islands in the Americas and a triangular commercial entreprise, The interest of England that asked for fine wines created the production towards the high end, It is the reason why the new French clarets the ancestors of our wines today were sold four times more than the classic clarets while at the same time appeared the first cork bottle wines. During the Second Empire (Napoléon III) the commerce done thanks to the agreement of free trade and the railroad line between Bordeaux and Paris put the lights on the Bordeaux wines. Other regions such as Saint Emilion, Pomerol, Sauternes, put the competition on the quality level, The Bordeaux wines tried to differentiate themselves by bringing on the name Château/castle. The great dates of wine making in the Bordeaux/Médoc area comes from the 1C when the merchants of Narbonne were more expensive and the grape biturica was well in the Roman areas of Brittany that is England. Jump to the 12-13C thanks to this commerce with England made more so from the Aquitaine was English and later when it came back to France in 1224 Bordeaux becomes a very important port, The vineyards extends to Saint Emilion, Bourg and Blaye, Again in the 17C the arrival in Bordeaux of the merchants Flamandes that encourage the making of white and sweet wines, To the claret for England becomes more so preferable the black wines of Spain (the reds), Coming to the 18C the golden age of Bordeaux ! The image of the Pontac family and their Haut-Brion started the movement, The fine Bordeaux wines conquers and give rise to the Grand Crus, In the 19C the classification of 1855 give priority to the château wines making a list of 58 grand crus of the Médoc and Haut Brion on red wines and 22 sweet wines of Sauternes, In this period many castles were built between 1850 and 1880. And we come to the 20C, here in 1935 was created the INAO (Institut de l’Origine et de la qualité) that groups the properties of the control origins, Bordeaux is reborn again from 1960 onwards to today.
Other follies came like the Garros dynasty in the second half of the 19C with a mix of architectural influences from Italy, England and the Loire valley. Examples of this are the Château Clément-Pichon in Parempuyre with the loire castle inspiration. The castle fortress of Sauternes where they are inhabited all year as an agriculture domain, examples are the Château d’Yquiem at Preignac built in the 15C but renovated several times thereafter. The Tudor style with the English influence in its golden age of the 19C expecially the Oxford style, Examples of these is the Château Cantenac-Brown in Margaux built for John Lewis Brown in the middle of the 19C. You ,also , have the charterhouses like those in Périgord and in Bordeaux are call « girondines » built between 1650 and 1850 with a central master house surrounded by two wings and a principal door in the middle, examples of this style is the Château Loudenne in Saint Yzans de Médoc, The one unique is the Cos d’Estourel a castle apart ! Chinese pagodas without any style but universal look and a simple Burgundian master house,An eclectique decoration with theatrical look in the cellars with heads of bulls, dragons, etc. The main door of the cellars all in sculpture wood comes from the palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar ! This is the masterpiece of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, inherits some vinyards in 1810 at Cos that means in old gascon pebble hill, his wines were appreciated by the tzar of Russia, Queen Victoria, Napoléon III, Stendhal, Jules Verne, Eugéne Labiche and even Karl Marx ! Ruined by his lifestyle he sells Cos in 1823 to an English banker with the right to stayed in the property. He died at the age of 91 while able to see the consecration of his castle at the head of Saint Estéphe in the classication of 1855.
You can indulge yourselves by visiting the museum and property of Château Mouton-Rothschild ,The Château Mouton Rothschild museum : https://www.chateau-mouton-rothschild.com/the-museum-of-wine-in-art
Other than visiting the chateaux direct, if time is of the essence, you must stop by the vinothéque de Pauillac, it is in the Maison du tourisme et vins de Pauillac building just at the entrance to the town ,with many souvenirs and food items from the region as well: https://www.pauillac-medoc.com/fr/vins-chateaux/maison-du-tourisme-et-du-vin/
Another great wine and information center is the Maison du vins de Margaux ,which has it own : https://vins-de-margaux.fr/
Do not forget to stop by in Margaux at the Mademoiselle de Margaux chocolates, for the famous serments de Medoc. https://gavottes.fr/collections/chocolats
The Bordeaux tourist office on the vineyards: https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/vineyards-wines
And, a site in French, for everything, or almost everything you need to know about the Medoc, Bordeaux region or the Gironde, private site Caruso33: https://www.caruso33.net/vins.html
Of course there are many individual properties visited over the years too numerous to mention, buy the Féret edition, Bordeaux and its Wines book at any serious book store, the essential historical analytical guide to the wines of the Médoc (Bordeaux) , I have the 2014 edition. The official Féret : https://feret.com/encyclopedie-feret/
The Bordeaux tourist convention office on wine castles visits: https://www.visiter-bordeaux.com/en/discovering-vineyards/wine-chateaux
The Bordeaux city tourist office on most beautiful wine castles: https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/wine-chateaux/most-beautiful-chateaux
The official wines of Bordeaux designations : https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/
The Bordeaux tourist office on a day in the Médoc : https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/6-wine-regions-bordeaux/day-medoc
The local Médoc Atlantique tourist office on wines of Médoc : https://www.medoc-atlantique.co.uk/activities/tasting-the-wines-of-medoc/
There you go folks, the Médoc is unique . A wonderful area for sights, beaches, and of course, the wine, A must while in or around Bordeaux, Again, hope you enjoy the post on the wines of the Médoc, Bordeaux !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
