The 2009 Bordeaux vintage has lost none of its power to charm and captivate.

A recent tasting in Atlanta showed that most of these wines are still in their first blush of youth, and the best will live for decades.

The intervening years have only confirmed what we suspected even on release – this is among the epochal vintages from Bordeaux.

It represents a turning point in the wines of Bordeaux in so many ways – the warming climate, the changing styles, the fashion for the wines – yet 2009 stands alone.

The chance to revisit these wines was exciting for all the tasters. Michael Davis, principal at Hart Davis Hart auction house in the US, expressed it best when he said that for him 2009 was 'joyful and expressive'.

The alluring 2009 style

There were several top-flight vintages in the first decade of the new century, beginning with superb millennial vintage, the almost unbearably hot 2003 that delivered sybaritic delights; the monumental 2005, still tannic and not yet ready to drink, with the charming 2006 and 2008 just behind.

There are many wine lovers, however, who would argue that the finest vintage of the decade was 2009. The wines are voluptuous, accessible, and hedonistic, yet structured enough to last.

It occurred to me while tasting through these two dozen wines that 2009 resembles the wines from 1982, and I began to think of 2009 as an updated version of 1982 – almost a ‘1982.2’.

The wines in general are substantial and have abundant extract; lots of tannin yet no astringency; enough acidity to give definition but not so much as to make them hard or unyielding; and a sweet, ripe character to the fruit with no sense of it being baked or over-ripe.

The secret to the seductive nature of the fruit in 2009 is that the vines never shut down during the growing season, as they do in the face of excessive heat or drought.

There was just enough water in July and August to keep the vines ripening the fruit throughout the season, and while there were hot days (and plenty of sunshine), the grapes did not suffer the excessive heat spikes that they saw in 2000 or 2003.

The weather behind the magic

The year got off to an appropriate start with a cold, wet winter that plunged the vines into dormancy, refilled the water table, ensuring that budbreak didn't start too early.

There was no hint of spring frost, and although there was a hail storm on 11 May, it did not damage the best vines.

Flowering happened early and finished quickly, setting a large crop on the vines. Crucially, the growing season was hot and sunny, but not so much as to interrupt the grapes gentle ripening.

The region saw moderate rainfall on 18, 19, and 20 September, but there was no further rain until the harvest was complete.

The key to success was to wait until after the rain to pick the Merlot, and to wait until the Cabernet was fully ripe, beginning in mid-October.

Because of the gentle nature of the growing season, the vines ripened to levels not often seen in Bordeaux – mostly over 14% on the Left Bank and up to (and sometimes beyond) 15% on the Right Bank.

If picked at the right time, both Cabernet and Merlot were successful.

Because of the lush, forward character these conditions delivered, these powerful wines are beginning to open up now.

While it is not too early to pull some corks, the best of these wines should continue to improve for decades to come.

From boom to bargain: The market context

When the 2009 vintage came to market, the world was in love with Bordeaux wine. Demand was booming in Asia, and the 2008 financial crisis was disappearing in the rear window.

With consumers in the UK, US, and Hong Kong all avidly chasing top Bordeaux wines, the 2009 primeurs offers were optimistic, and prices seemed dear indeed.

In the intervening 15 years since this primeurs campaign, however, much has changed – Bordeaux wines have lost some of their shine, the global wine market is depressed, and producers are sitting on significant stocks.

As a consequence, prices for these sumptuous wines have not increased greatly, and are, in some cases, lower today than they were upon release.

For a buyer looking for immediate pleasure, long-term cellaring potential, and perhaps smart appreciation, the 2009 vintage represents a wonderful opportunity.

Standout performers

Among the delights of the tasting were second growths that were drinking like firsts, particularly Léoville-Las Cases, Léoville-Poyferré, Pichon-Baron and Gruaud-Larose (as well as perennial overachieving fifth growth Pontet-Canet).

There were also strong performances further down the price ladder like Poujeaux and Malescot-Saint-Exupéry.

Although were some disappointments – I felt that both Lynch-Bages and Pavie should have done better given the conditions – the best wines of the vintage are classics that will long outlive most of us, particularly Margaux and Lafite, with Cheval, Mouton, and La Mission Haut-Brion not far behind.

Bordeaux 2009: 24 top wines from this epochal vintage

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Overshadowed by the first and second growths, the Médoc’s third growth estates are quietly undergoing one of Bordeaux’s most compelling qualitative evolutions – often delivering second growth-level quality but at more approachable prices.

Ironically, the catalyst may be the very classification that’s considered by many as obsolete.

With two notable exceptions, the third growths occupy an uneasy position within the Médoc hierarchy, neither rivalling the established aristocracy of the firsts or ‘super seconds’ (those second growths widely considered now to be performing at potentially first growth standard), nor having their status challenged by any glaringly insurgent success stories emerging from the fifth growths, whose own stars regularly defy official ranking.

Fifths such as Châteaux Pontet-Canet and Lynch-Bages now regularly command secondgrowth pricing, for example.

The 1855 Classification, in other words, has long ceased to function as an immutable ladder of quality.

Instead, the third growths exist in a zone defined less by hierarchy and more by expectation: dependable, historically respected, yet less often thrilling.

But a recent comparative tasting shows how that perception is changing.

Natural progression

For this article, the Maison Héritage restaurant in Sessenheim, Alsace (formerly known as Auberge au Boeuf, holder of a Michelin star from 2015 until early 2026) hosted a horizontal tasting of all 14 Médoc third growths from the 2020 vintage.

Unsurprisingly, Châteaux Palmer and Calon Ségur emerged as clearly the leading wines. More revealing was how the remaining 12 compared.

Pricing data from Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, show that, aside from Palmer and the rapidly ascending Calon Ségur, these estates have traded within a significantly lower band of pricing for roughly a quarter of a century.

Qualitatively, however, divergence has become increasingly apparent. As you can read in the tasting notes, each wine was paired with an older reference vintage, to gauge not only stylistic identity but tangible progress.

Improvements in viticulture, investment in wineries and increasingly precise winemaking have begun to reshape the third growth category from within.

Hive of activity

The framework defining these estates remains frozen in time. Conceived for Napoleon III’s Exposition Universelle de 1855 in Paris, the Classification still governs perception despite more than 170 years of transformation.

Of the 14 third growths, 13 continue to display their classified status prominently on labels, serving as both historical credential and commercial shorthand.

Only Château Palmer declines to display the distinction.

The irony is in the history. Charles Palmer was still assembling vineyards in Cantenac shortly before the 1855 Classification was finalised, meaning the estate that today rivals Bordeaux’s elite had not yet fully taken shape when the rankings were fixed.

Palmer’s third growth status reflects timing rather than intrinsic quality – a discrepancy long since corrected by the market.

Leaps and bounds

If the Classification no longer accurately describes a hierarchy, it continues nonetheless to shape behaviour.

Over the past two decades, that influence has produced something unexpected: competition within the Classification itself.

Across the Médoc region, vineyard restructuring, sustainability initiatives and increasingly refined cellar practices have collectively raised standards.

In St-Julien, Château Lagrange illustrates how long-term investment can quietly bolster stature.

A complete cellar modernisation completed in 2010 nearly doubled fermentation capacity, enabling precise parcel-by-parcel vinification.

Château Langoa Barton, long overshadowed by second growth Léoville Barton, has refined its approach steadily over the past 15 years through careful replanting and increasingly precise gravity-fed vinification, improving tannin quality while preserving its own style of St-Julien restraint.

Château La Lagune, the only Haut-Médoc appellation wine among the third growths, reflects the long-term influence of Caroline Frey, whose tenure from 2004 to 2025 (now managed by sister Delphine Frey) saw conversion to certified biodynamic winemaking alongside the introduction of massal selection (by taking cuttings from existing estate vine stocks) starting in 2008, strengthening vineyard identity and resilience.

Rising tide of quality

Including Palmer, 10 of the 14 third growths come from the Margaux appellation, some better known than others.

Château Ferrière, which impressed many tasting participants (some of whom had never heard of it) continues to pursue certified biodynamic viticulture following cellar renovations in 2013 that have enhanced precision and transparency in winemaking.

Better-known Château Giscours has sustained technical stewardship and, especially since the beginning of this century, it has transformed former inconsistency into one of Margaux’s most compelling contemporary expressions, combining aromatic finesse with structural confidence.

Château Cantenac Brown has entered a new phase of refinement, with 9.5ha of newly acquired vineyard parcels in 2020, additions that contribute greater depth and compositional precision, as well as the installation of completely new cellars, inaugurated in April 2024 (first vintage 2023).

Château d’Issan, known for its parcel-by-parcel winemaking and one of the most appreciated wines in the tasting, also acquired vineyard parcels in 2020, bordering Château Margaux, adding Malbec and Petit Verdot as blending options since that vintage.

At Château Kirwan, a decisive stylistic shift endures, following the arrival of general manager Philippe Delfaut in 2007.

Moving away from later harvesting and heavy oak influence, the estate adopted softer extractions and a more classical expression, consolidated by new cellars opened in 2017 enabling parcel-by-parcel vinification.

Château Malescot St-Exupéry retains a richer, more modern Margaux expression shaped with late consultant Michel Rolland, although the wood regime here seems to evolve toward greater balance, with new oak usage reduced in recent vintages.

Château Marquis d’Alesme shows renewal through both technical and experiential investment.

Cellar renovations completed in 2015 improved vinification precision, while increased Cabernet Sauvignon plantings and the creation of Le Hameau, a tucked-away space for food accompanied by the estate’s wines, have positioned Marquis d’Alesme as an innovator in wine tourism within Margaux.

Unequal progress

Not all estates have advanced equally.

Aside from increasing percentages of Petit Verdot in recent blends, Château Boyd-Cantenac remains austere, while Château Desmirail, another less well-known estate, appears only recently to be translating technical evolution into qualitative momentum.

The inclusion of Petit Verdot from mature vines, advances in pragmatic ecological vineyard management and the addition of truncated wooden vats have allowed more refined maceration and improved structural polish.

Such disparities underline a central paradox: the Classification groups estates together, while modern viticulture increasingly separates them.

Above this transforming field stands Château Palmer, not a static exception but rather a moving benchmark.

Under director Thomas Duroux, biodynamic viticulture, rigorous parcel selection and tasting-led extraction have progressively refined texture and transparency, allowing the estate to redefine excellence within this Classification rank.

Château Calon Ségur represents a different, still unfolding ascent.

Extensive replanting since the mid-2000s has left the vineyard unusually young, yet increases in both vine density and the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the vineyard promise further gains in structure and precision.

Recent vintages, including the 2020, already perform convincingly up against second growth-level wines.

Inspiring to improve

Which brings us inevitably to the enduring question: is the 1855 Classification obsolete?

Undeniably so, if judged as a hierarchy intended to reflect today’s realities. Yet its continued existence has produced a fascinating irony.

Unable to change their historical rank, estates have instead worked to be deserving of it.

Many of the third growths, positioned at the centre of Bordeaux’s most famous classification, consequently now count among the Médoc’s most dynamic properties.

The 1855 Classification may no longer precisely determine quality, but the desire not to fall short of its rankings continues to drive producers’ ambition.

In Bordeaux, history rarely disappears. Sometimes, inconveniently yet effectively, it contrives to keep everyone on their toes.

Médoc third growths: The Panos Kakaviatos (PK) revised ranking

If the 1855 Médoc Classification of grand cru classé estates were revised today, the following are my hypothetical rankings, based on current quality, market perception and qualitative evolution of each estate – listed in their proposed ‘new’ order, and alphabetically within that.

Tasting notes and pricing shown here (average price before tax as shown on wine-searcher.com on 12 April 2026) use the 2020 vintage as a benchmark; pricing among the Médoc third growths reveals how the existing 1855 hierarchy can still dictate market positioning, albeit not always in step with relative quality.

Châteaux Palmer and Calon Ségur are both priced in clear recognition of top performance in 2020.

Then there is the cluster of 12 other current third growths, though not all are equal in quality – in reinterpreting the rankings today, I would create a category similar to the ‘super seconds’, or in this case the ‘thrilling thirds’.

This is to reflect the reality that estates such as Cantenac Brown, d’Issan, Giscours, Lagrange and Langoa Barton are delivering relatively higher quality than the others, at prices that have not yet fully caught up.

By contrast, wines such as Château Desmirail and Boyd-Cantenac appear less compelling in value terms, relative to their peers.

The 1855 Classification appears on all their labels, other than Palmer, but the degree to which the Classification still anchors price, regardless of progress in viticulture and winemaking, creates striking disparities in value within the category.

Château Palmer

Margaux

PK revised ranking: First growth

Directed by Thomas Duroux, Palmer cultivates 66ha under certified biodynamic management, combining meticulous parcel stewardship with advanced research into climate resilience and vineyard adaptation.

Technical expertise underpins precise extraction and ageing, with wines maturing 20-22 months in 50%-70% new oak.

The inauguration of the estate’s Village complex in 2025, including staff facilities and a restaurant, reflects Palmer’s commitment to collective identity, sustainability and long-term cultural as well as technical leadership.

Average bottle price: £243*

Château Calon Ségur

St-Estèphe

PK revised ranking: Second growth

Directed by Vincent Millet, Calon Ségur cultivates a largely unchanged 55ha vineyard representing one of the Médoc’s rare historical continuities.

Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for roughly 57% of plantings here, with restructuring underway to increase its proportion. Ageing extends 18-20 months in new oak.

Average bottle price: £88*

Château Cantenac Brown

Margaux

PK revised ranking: Thrilling third

Under director José Sanfins, this 75ha estate is planted largely to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Since new ownership in 2019, vineyard acquisitions together with major investment – notably an eco-designed gravity winery first used for the 2023 vintage – have strengthened precision and estate coherence.

Wines mature for 16-18 months in about 60% new oak.

Average bottle price: £42*

Château d’Issan

Margaux

PK revised ranking: Thrilling third

Jointly owned by Jacky Lorenzetti and Emmanuel Cruse, d’Issan cultivates 55ha under technical director Eric Pellon.

Careful parcel-by-parcel selection and vinification, reinforced by recent vineyard acquisitions, enhance precision and integration across the estate.

Wines age for about 18 months in 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £45*

Château Giscours

Margaux

PK revised ranking: Thrilling third

Led by general manager Alexander van Beek, Giscours cultivates 100ha planted predominantly to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Continued refinement in both vineyard and cellar has reinforced consistency and precision across vintages.

Ageing lasts up to 21 months in around 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £47*

Château Lagrange

St-Julien

PK revised ranking: Thrilling third

Directed by Matthieu Bordes, Lagrange cultivates an unusually continuous 118ha estate dating back to 1855.

A major cellar expansion completed in 2010, which effectively doubled vat capacity, allows extensive parcel-by-parcel vinification and enhanced precision.

Wines age up to 21 months in roughly 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £38*

Château Langoa Barton

St-Julien

PK revised ranking: Thrilling third

Managed by Damien Barton Sartorius, Langoa Barton cultivates 20ha reflecting a classical St-Julien balance rooted in long family stewardship.

Recent investment has improved parcel precision while preserving traditional proportions.

Wines are aged about 18 months in 60% new oak.

Average bottle price: £36*

Château Ferrière

Margaux

PK revised ranking: No change

Owned and directed by Claire Villars-Lurton, Ferrière cultivates 24ha under certified organic and biodynamic management.

Old massal-selection vines contribute finesse and aromatic precision, reflecting a philosophy centred on terroir expression.

Wines age 16-18 months in roughly 40% new oak.

Average bottle price: £33*

Château Kirwan

Margaux

PK revised ranking: No change

Directed by Philippe Delfaut, Kirwan cultivates 37ha with an emphasis on gentler extraction and greater terroir clarity following stylistic evolution initiated in the late 2000s.

Modern cellars enable detailed parcel by parcel vinification, with ageing lasting 18-21 months in about 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £40*

Château La Lagune

Haut-Médoc

PK revised ranking: No change

Long guided by Caroline Frey and now managed by her sister Delphine Frey, La Lagune cultivates approximately 80ha planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Biodynamic certification achieved in 2021 reflects sustained attention to vineyard vitality.

Wines age 16-18 months in around 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £34*

Château Malescot St-Exupéry

Margaux

PK revised ranking: No change

Owned by Jean-Luc Zuger and guided for almost three decades by the recently late consultant Michel Rolland, this 28ha estate cultivates Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot alongside smaller proportions of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

A gradual reduction in new oak seeks greater freshness within the estate’s historically opulent style.

Ageing lasts 16-18 months.

Average bottle price: £39*

Château Marquis d’Alesme

Margaux

PK revised ranking: No change

Acquired by Hubert Perrodo in 2006 and subsequently developed under the leadership of his daughter Nathalie Perrodo, this 14ha estate has undergone extensive renovation since 2015, improving vineyard precision and balance.

Wines age 16-18 months in about 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £36*

Château Desmirail

Margaux

PK revised ranking: Fourth growth

Now directed by Thierry Lurton, Desmirail cultivates 35ha combining Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with increasing Petit Verdot influence.

Expanded vineyard holdings and updated cellar facilities allow more detailed parcel vinification.

Wines age 16-18 months in about 50% new oak.

Average bottle price: £31*

Château Boyd-Cantenac

Margaux

PK revised ranking: Fifth growth

Owned by Lucien Guillemet, this 17ha Margaux estate cultivates predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon alongside Merlot, Cabernet Franc and increasing Petit Verdot proportions intended to reinforce structure and freshness.

Wines are aged 15-18 months in 80%-90% new oak.

Average bottle price: £36*

Third Growth wines

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St-Estèphe’s clay and gravel mix that defines much of the area proved a major advantage in 2025.

It retained just enough moisture through the intense dry summer to avoid the extreme stress seen on pure gravel sites further south, while the late-August rains (heavier in the northern Médoc) allowed perfect completion of ripening without dilution or overripeness.

Château Cos d’Estournel noted that: ‘70mm of rain at the end of August helped avoid high sugar content and finish ripening of the skins.’

The result is wines with classical St-Estèphe power and structure, but delivered with unusual freshness, lower alcohols (mostly 12.7–13.6%), powdery/chalky tannins and a cool, mineral-driven precision that shows real terroir-transparency.

Overall, the heavier clay soils and extra northern rain delivered the vintage’s signature combination of concentration and lift better than many gravel-dominant neighbours.

This was not the showy, high-octane style some feared after the heat; instead, it is refined, energetic and age-worthy – a vintage where the best estates turned the blending challenge (‘more tannins, less acidity and alcohol’) into an elegant success.

Acceptable yields and early starts

Yields were low but not catastrophic compared with Pomerol (25.9hl/ha) or St-Julien (26.4hl/ha).

Indeed, several estates, like Château Pedesclaux, achieved a relatively generous yield of 41hl/ha thanks to clay's water retention and precise, intra-plot selection.

Pickers were called out early – 3 September at Château Cos d’Estournel, breaking a record set only as recently as 2022. The 2025 vintage was the final year of their organic conversion (certification expected 2026).

It was a little more stop-start at Château Montrose, where the team extended picking to 16 days (normally 11–13) to wait for each terroir and grape variety to be properly ripe.

One of a kind

Winemakers emphasised the importance of balance in what Vincent Millet, technical director at Château Calon Ségur, called a ‘one of a kind vintage'.

He said: 'The key was to get the right balance between power and elegance… we find the tannins of 2005, 2010, 2015 – all great vintages’,

The estate celebrated the first vintage in its brand-new cellar, equipped with smaller vats (10 hl, 25 hl, 34 hl, and one 73 hl) for even greater selection across its key plots.

Winemaking techniques were key in this appellation, which has a reputation for tough and grippy tannins.

Fabrice Bacquey, cellar master at Château Phelan Ségur described how he and his team conducted a short maceration (average 24 days for Merlot and 25 for Cabernet, whereas the minimum time is usually around 26 days) aiming for a style with ‘tannin finesse, balance and freshness like 2020’.

Montrose likewise changed its extraction by stopping mid-alcoholic fermentation for the first time after shortening the average maceration to 18 days (some vats at 15 days).

Montrose's team described the 2025s as sitting, ‘between 2016 and 2020 where you get concentration without the level of alcohol. Not so easy to get both'.

Château Ormes de Pez's new white (first vintage of planted Sauvignon and Sémillon inside St-Estèphe) marked another step in the appellation’s white-wine development.

Further reading from this report

• Pomerol
• St-Emilion
• Pessac-Léognan & Graves
• Dry whites
• Crus Bourgeois
• Pauillac
• Margaux
• St-Julien
• Sauternes

Bordeaux 2025: Top wines from St-Estèphe

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A relatively strong performance in 2021 with some great wines produced, particularly those on clay-limestone soils: clear terroir markers show through in the best.

Despite 15% less rain than in 2020, and September temperatures the highest in 100 years, yields were almost identical, with many estates having been spared the spring frosts. Some wines are now displaying quite austere tannins and rustic edges, but there are some highlights, too.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top St-Estèphe 2021 in-bottle wines

Château Montrose is a specific highlight from this appellation in 2021 with tension and direction, lots of focus and energy as well as concentration. They seem to manage the weather conditions and the ageing really well, producing a very ‘classic’ Bordeaux in the best sense.

Cos d’Estournel and Calon Ségur are also impressive as are some of the non-classified wines from the region including Phélan Ségur, de Pez and Meyney which should offer easy and early drinkability and relative value too.

The worst wines seem to amplify the rusticity that St-Estèphe sometimes offers with dry tannins, some green fruit and harsh finishes. Some wines will need time for the oakiness to wear off and some others should be drunk and enjoyed young.

BORDEAUX 2021 IN BOTTLE SCORE TABLE: Top-scoring 133 wines with 93 points or above

Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines

Pauillac 2021 | Margaux 2021 | St-Julien 2021| Pomerol 2021 | Pessac & Graves 2021 | St-Emilion 2021 | 

See tasting notes and scores for the top St-Estèphe 2021 in-bottle wines

See all Bordeaux 2021 in-bottle wines in score order

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• Bordeaux 2021 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines

Just ahead of the April barrel tastings for the 2022 vintage in Bordeaux, I visited Château Phélan Ségur in St-Estèphe. The estate has been working since 2020 to ensure that only indigenous yeasts are used to ferment each parcel of vines harvested. The team reported promising results, as those yeasts have made the wine brighter.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for St-Estèphe selection of wines

Phélan Ségur is one of many quality-minded châteaux from the northernmost of the Médoc’s prestige appellations, which sometimes seems cast in the shade, partly because it does not have as many famous ‘brands’ as other regions, partly because it is the furthest drive away from Bordeaux city. But St-Estèphe is imbued with a sense of solidarity. I was told during my visit that the châteaux have agreed to work with special balloons that diffuse calcium chloride and sodium chloride in storm cells, which could limit conditions for hail formation. In June last year, hail ripped through vineyards in St-Estèphe, prompting this team effort.

Getting to St-Estèphe may take a bit more time, but it is worth making the effort. One can start with its three most celebrated estates. Driving north from Pauillac along the Médoc’s D2 Route du Vin, the wonderful sight of the exotic sandstone pagodas of Château Cos d’Estournel greets you, perched 20m up across from Pauillac first growth Château Lafite Rothschild. The unique architecture – inspired by trips to Asia by founder Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in the 18th-19th centuries – is matched by impressive wine, rated ‘second growth’ in the enduring 1855 Médoc Classification. Often sumptuous, the wine can match first growth quality. The estate has leapfrogged to new heights via intricate soil studies, and increased harvesting and vat room precision under the ownership of entrepreneur and hospitality supremo Michel Reybier since 2000.

St-Estèphe boasts another wine that matches first growth quality: Château Montrose. Rather than using the D2, you can head north out of Pauillac along the Boulevard Maritime, adjacent to the Gironde estuary, and this will permit you to admire its impressive sloping vineyards overlooking the charming stilted fishing huts known as carrelets along the riverbank. Vineyards that ‘see the river’ benefit from a microclimate that can better prevent spring frost or freshen summer heat. Along with great terroir – the vineyard resembles the famous ‘clos’ of Château Latour in Pauillac – Château Montrose has upped its game via cellar renovations and greater harvesting and winemaking precision since Martin and Olivier Bouygues acquired it in 2006. Pierre Graffeuille, who proved his talent previously at Château Léoville Las Cases in St-Julien, was named director in 2022.

The excellent third growth Château Calon Ségur, in the north of the appellation, is another star, especially since planting density has increased over the last 15 years. More Cabernet Sauvignon in recent blends makes for superb structure, power and refinement (the heart on the label makes for ideal romantic dinners).

St-Estèphe at a glance

Appellation Created in 1936

Soils Varied, from clay, sand and limestone to gravel. Cooler clay soils have assumed greater importance for climate change

Producers 62 estates (only five officially classified under the 1855 ranking, but numerous excellent non-classified wines); plus 17 cooperative wine-growers

Area planted 1,180ha under vine – third largest after Margaux and Pauillac of the Médoc’s six communal appellations

Yields Maximum 57hl/ha (although averages at 45hl/ha – in 2020 it was 41hl/ha)

Grapes planted 49.35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43.2% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3.2% Petit Verdot, 0.25% Côt (Malbec) & Carmenère

Beyond the big names

Outside these famous brands, St-Estèphe seems overshadowed by the other three main communes further south: Pauillac, St-Julien and Margaux. It has the fewest 1855 classified growths – just five when you add fourth growth Château Lafon-Rochet and fifth growth Château Cos Labory. The smaller St-Julien boasts 11.

For too long, St-Estèphe wines have been known as merely sturdy and powerful. Nicolas Glumineau of Château de Pez and Claire Ridley of Château Le Crock talk of high acidity levels from colder soils that can accentuate tannins in their wines compared with wines further south. But these and other St-Estèphe estates have become smoother and more nuanced. While that can be explained partly by innovation at estates such as Phélan Ségur, another reason is better tannin extraction. And climate change.

Château Haut-Marbuzet owner Henri Duboscq says that wines over the last 10 years have ‘benefited’ from global warming. Colder soils in previous years often meant inadequate ripening, but cold water-retaining clays common to the appellation have become a virtue: ‘They better resist [the] increasing heatwaves in recent years,’ he says.

Bernard Audoy, former co-owner until its March sale (see ‘estates to watch’ below) of Château Cos Labory, recalls: ‘St-Estèphe wines were hard and acidic, because we harvested too early – and grapes were not completely ripe.’ But more recently, ‘warming allows for very ripe Cabernet Sauvignons, which have the same alcoholic degree as the Merlots.’

Extra acidity? Again, a virtue, lending freshness to wines from ‘solar’ vintages – with wines marked by the heat of the summer – such as 2015, 2018 and 2019. So dry was 2022 that the Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol and St-Emilion regions were allowed to irrigate, but not St-Estèphe. Véronique Dausse, managing director at Château Phélan Ségur, remarks: ‘Having spent 15 days of August 2022 in the Médoc, and despite a significant water deficit in the spring, I attest to the ability of our vineyard to overcome a summer heatwave.’

Readers should note that the hot summer of 2022 was the driest recorded so far this century – this could be good news for the vineyards in St-Estèphe which are normally cooler. The deeply coloured wines, packed with dark berry aromas and floral and spicy notes, should count among the most striking of the vintage as tasted from barrel. If you’re visiting, whoever the owner, be sure to ask for a sample of the 2022 vintage.

Travel: Enjoy a St-Estèphe tour

Take advantage of wine tourism developing in the appellation. Michel Reybier of nearby Château Cos d’Estournel opened La Maison d’Estournel in 2019. Surrounded by vines and century-old trees, the 14-room property has an 18m-long swimming pool. After a dip, enjoy lunch on the terrace of the hotel restaurant, a Travellers’ Choice 2022 winner on Tripadvisor.

You can stay at the gorgeous 18th-century home adjacent to the Château Ormes de Pez cellars, close to the village of St-Estèphe, or at Château Laffitte Carcasset, another historic estate first referenced in 1759: both feature outdoor pools to escape the summer heat. Château Phélan Ségur offers lunches in the château salons, stressing the link between wine and gastronomy.

Be sure to make reservations before you visit any of the châteaux. In July and August, take advantage of free tastings on Wednesdays 2pm-6pm, when vintners welcome visitors at St-Estèphe’s Maison du Vin in town by the church of St-Etienne. Call the reception team for more tips. saint-estephe.fr

A word on whites

As elsewhere in Médoc, some St-Estèphe estates produce dry white wines. ‘We are rediscovering that the Médoc is a great white wine terroir, yielding freshness and tension,’ notes Pierre Maussire of cru bourgeois supérieur Château Laffitte Carcasset, who in 2020 planted Chardonnay on calcareous plots, with the first harvest scheduled for this year. Since 2011, one hectare at Château Tronquoy-Lalande has been used to craft its Blanc dry white that has many admirers (2018, £40 Lay & Wheeler). Château Cos d’Estournel has 17 years of experience with white wines. ‘We strongly believe in the potential of these terroirs to produce great whites,’ remarks technical director Dominique Arangoïts. A recent movement to create a separate Médoc Blanc appellation ‘deserves to be studied’, although he believes that in some cases a specific brand would outshine any new appellation.

St-Estèphe: know your vintages

2021 2.5 stars Complicated vintage with light to medium body.

2020 5 stars Solar vintage, but lower-than-expected alcohol levels make for truly classic wines.

2019 4.5 stars Solar vintage, high alcohol but balancing acidity translates into big wines with verve.

2018 4 stars Extravagant opulence makes the Médoc reflect California, but cooler St-Estèphe often has excellent balance.

2017 3 stars Solid, if somewhat unexciting.

2016 5 stars Benchmark vintage combining refined classicism, depth and freshness.

2015 4 stars Rich, savoury and sometimes ‘big’, but not as refined as 2016.

2014 4 stars Less rain here than in the southern Médoc resulted in a robust vintage with tannic finesse.

2013 1 star Weak vintage: drink up.

2012 3.5 stars Warm, inviting attack and full mid-palate, but lacks the length of a great vintage.

Raising the profile: St-Estèphe estates to watch

The St-Estèphe region includes delicious ‘non-classified’ wines of Bordeaux – and many bargains. The appellation’s gravel terroir runs to elevations up to 20m high, which enables Cabernet Sauvignon to shine bright at, for example, Château Beau-Site, where quality has improved in recent years but the price remains very friendly.

Consumers can find classified wine quality at Château Phélan Ségur, where selection of individual parcels has made the wine more precise in recent years, with fermentation tanks as small as 5hl used to match selected harvests, according to director Véronique Dausse. And if you visit the mighty Château Montrose, do not miss neighbour Château Meyney, which also has an impressive slope overlooking the Gironde estuary. Owner CA Grands Crus has invested in replacing fermentation vats to better reflect harvest selections.

With vines near both Phélan Ségur and Meyney, Château Capbern is better than ever, with more Cabernet Sauvignon in blends and more precise harvests. Still quite inexpensive – great news for consumers – the estate benefits from the direction of Vincent Millet, who crafts Château Calon Ségur.

St-Estèphe has witnessed important ownership changes involving classified growths, including the purchase earlier this year of Château Cos Labory from the Audoy family by Château Cos d’Estournel owner Michel Reybier, bringing together two major properties in St-Estèphe.

Cru bourgeois exceptionnel Château Lilian Ladouys benefited from the purchase in 2018 of 34ha of vines from Châteaux Clauzet and Tour de Pez, which increased the vineyard area to 80.5ha. The Lorenzetti family owners also acquired the impeccably run Château Lafon-Rochet in 2021 (previously owned by the Tesseron family). Each estate of the Lorenzetti family has its own dedicated team with Lafon-Rochet now run by Christophe Congé, previously at Château Lafite Rothschild (not Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen as the Bordeaux Guide 2023 incorrectly stated, who actually manages Château Pédescleaux, Pauillac fifth growth and also part of the Vignobles Cruze-Lorenzetti stable).

Quality & value: The St-Estèphe selection

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St-Estèphe 2022

Average yield:

• Average yield 31.5hl/ha, -27.4% relative to the 10-year average of 43.4hl/ha.
• Yield in 2021 40.7hl/ha. A decrease of 3% from 2020.

Rainfall during the vintage in mm and % relative to the 10 year average:

• Pre-budburst (Nov-March) 415mm (-14.6%)
• Véraison to harvest (August-October) 74.4mm (-40.3%).
• Total: 889.3mm (-1.1%)

What you find from the 2021 wines

A hailstorm in June damaged between 30-80% of some vineyards in the north-eastern part of the appellation in what is known as the ‘hail corridor’. Localised impact was then followed by intense heat waves from May to September causing hydric stress and concentrated grapes as across the whole region. May specifically saw -76% rainfall in St-Estephe compared to the 30-year-average however the appellation ended up at just 1.1% under the 10 year average.

The vines were ahead of schedule at every step with the earliest ever harvests.

Limestone terroirs and clay-rich sub-soils combined with the moderating river as well as smart choices made by winemakers helped produce a range of excellent wines in 2022.

Low yields but high concentration and intensity of flavours yet still giving appellation typicity with wines representative of their place in terms of minerality and salinity.

See all 34 St-Estephe 2022 en primeur wines tasted

Top picks:

• Château Montrose
• Château Cos d’Estournel
• Château Calon Ségur
• Château Phélan Ségur
• Château Lafon-Rochet
• Château Clauzet
• Château Tronquoy
• Château Lilian Ladouys
• Château Le Crock
• Château de Pez
• Château Cos Labory
• Château Le Boscq
• Château Ormes de Pez 
  

See the top-scoring St-Estèphe 2022 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2022 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Concentrated, plush, finessed and aromatic, St-Estèphe delivered some excellent wines in 2020 with the cool, clay, limestone and grave soils playing a part in the vines ability to deal with the intense summer heat and drought conditions.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top St-Estèphe 2020 in-bottle wines

Average yields in St-Estèphe were 41.2hl/ha, the highest of the Left Bank appellations. They are lower however than 2018 which was 44.6hl/ha, and 2019 which was 49.7hl/ha.

A mild winter was following by heavy rain in March then a spring frost. April was unusually hot bring on an early flowering in May. Summer was hot and dry with drought conditions meaning vineyards with less moisture retaining soils suffered more than those on clay. Uneven rain in August and September meant estates had to pick carefully.

‘We had five heatwaves in St-Estephe in 2020,’ Andrea Denecheau at Château Calon Ségur. ‘It wasn’t easy. We’re blessed by the clay but we’re getting used to having smaller, very concentrated berries’.

In terms of vintage comparison, Pierre Graffeuille general manager at Château Montrose, said: ‘the 2020 vintage is more like 2016, with less alcohol than you have in 2018 and 2019 – the balance is different. 2016 maybe has more charm, but the 2020 is very young so we’ll see how it will evolve – there is a big potential for 2020.

With small berries, the Montrose team reduced the number of pump overs as well as general extraction time to get soft tannins.

Top 3 St-Estèphe 2020 wines:

Château Montrose, (2ème Cru Classé), 98 points

Château Cos d’Estournel, (2ème Cru Classé), 97 points

Château Calon Ségur, (3ème Cru Classé), 98 points

SCORE TABLE: top-scoring 349 wines with 92 points or above

Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines

Margaux 2020 | St-Julien 2020| Pauillac 2020 | Pessac & Graves 2020 | St-Emilion 2020 | Pomerol 2020 

See all Bordeaux 2020 in-bottle wines in score order

See tasting notes and scores for the top St-Estèphe 2020 in-bottle wines

The following wines all scored 92 points or above. 

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St-Estèphe 2021

Average yield:

• 40.7hl/ha. A decrease of 3% from 2020.

What you find from the 2021 wines

The St-Estèphe appellation returned a relatively strong performance in 2021 with some brilliant wines produced, particularly those on clay-limestone soils with clear terroir markers showing through in the best.

Despite 15% less rain than 2020, and September temperatures the highest in 100 years, yields were almost identical, with many estates having been spared from the spring frosts.

Some wines were displaying quite austere tannins and rustic edges but there are some highlights too.

Top picks:

• Château Montrose
• Château Cos d’Estournel
• Château Calon Ségur
• Château Phélan Ségur
• Château Le Crock
• Château de Pez
• Château Meyney
• Château Haut-Marbuzet
• Château Cos Labory
• Château Le Boscq
• Château Capbern
• Château Lafon-Rochet
• Château Ormes de Pez 
  

See the top-scoring St-Estèphe 2021 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2021 en primeur ratings published so far

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Having joined Domaine Barons de Rothschild in 1999, Congé has since held the role of oenologist and wine operations manager across Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Duhart Milon for over 22 years. He has now been appointed MD of Saint-Estèphe fourth growth Château Lafon-Rochet. He takes on his new role with immediate effect.

Congé will work closely with Emmanuel Cruse, director of Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti, which acquired Château Lafon-Rochet from the Tesseron family last year.

The appointment of Congé marks the first change implemented by Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti since it acquired the property.

Congé takes over from Basile Tesseron, previous MD and owner alongside his family, who completed the 2021 vinification – his ‘final vintage’ at Lafon-Rochet.

‘After acquiring this exceptional terroir, it quickly became obvious that, like the Tesserons, our commitment to Bordeaux winemaking is deeply rooted in our family’s DNA,’ said Jacky Lorenzetti, owner of Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti.

.

‘The latest development at Lafon-Rochet illustrates our devotion to guide each of our properties down its own path to excellence. We pursue with enthusiasm outstanding quality across all of our vineyards, which, despite their geographical differences, are linked by this ambition,’ he said.

Cruse added: ‘We are thrilled to entrust the directorship of Lafon-Rochet to Christophe Congé who, given his experience and knowledge of the great terroirs of the Médoc, will be able to help us in expressing the best of this beautiful vineyard.’

Having studied oenology in Bordeaux, Congé started his career at Château Doisy Daëne in Barsac before joining Domaines Barons de Rothschild in 1999.

Lafon-Rochet’s vineyards (55% of which planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% to Merlot and 5% to Cabernet Franc) surround the Château in a large contiguous plot bordering Lilian Ladouys to the north, and a stone’s throw away from Cos d’Estournel and Château Cos Labory, with Château Lafite Rothschild over the border in Pauillac.

Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti property stable also includes Saint-Estèphe’s Château Lilian Ladouys (Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel), Pauillac fifth growth Château Pédescleaux, and Margaux third growth Château d’Issan.

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The Tesseron family has sold Château Lafon-Rochet, the St-Estèphe fourth growth, to French-Swiss real-estate investor Jacky Lorenzetti in a deal that was finalised in the first week of September.

It’s understood that Lorenzetti beat a number of other interested parties during a bidding process.

This is the fourth Médoc estate in his portfolio, alongside Château Pédesclaux in Pauillac, Lilian Ladouys in St-Estèphe and his 50% stake in Château d’Issan in Margaux.

Lorenzetti’s personal fortune was estimated at €700m by France’s Challenges magazine in its 2021 rich list. He is chairman of the family’s holding company, Ovalto, and is president of Paris rugby club Racing 92.

Emmanuel Cruse, the co-owner of Château d’Issan and general manager of Lorenzetti’s Bordeaux wine estates, said the possibility of buying Lafon-Rochet was too good to miss for the businessman.

‘It’s a great terroir,’ he said of the estate’s 41 hectares of vines. ‘You don’t have so many opportunities in St-Estèphe. When you have an opportunity [like] Lafon, you have to go for it.’

The Tesserons, of Cognac fame, had been owners of Lafon-Rochet since 1960. Basile Tesseron, the estate’s current director, will handle the 2021 harvest with his team. A handover is expected from around the end of October, with Cruse as general manager.

Lafon-Rochet’s vineyards (55% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% to Merlot and 5% to Cabernet Franc) surround the Château in a large contiguous plot bordering Lilian Ladouys to the north, and a stone’s throw away from Cos d’Estournel and Château Cos Labory, plus Château Lafite Rothschild over the border in Pauillac.

Lafon-Rochet’s team, under the guidance of Basile Tesseron since 2007, has previously been credited with making significant improvements to the wine.

Tesseron has led the construction of two new cellars, overseen extensive replanting and created a biodiversity programme. He also changed the Lafon-Rochet blending profile, increasing the percentage of Merlot in the blend.

‘It’s great because they have improved the quality and now our challenge will be to try to make it even better,’ Cruse told Decanter.

Earlier this year, highly respected Left Bank consultant Eric Boissenot joined Lafon-Rochet’s existing consultant, Jean-Claude Berrouet – of Petrus fame – to help blend the 2020 vintage.

Lafon-Rochet 2020 earned top reviews after its en primeur release.

Cruse said it was too soon to discuss future plans in detail, but he said ‘it will be interesting to compare their points-of-view’ on Lafon-Rochet’s wines. He said he was particularly interested in focusing on the finesse, elegance and balance of the wine.

Additional reporting by Chris Mercer.

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Suduiraut 2020 released with price jump vs 2019

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St-Estephe 2020

Average yield: 41hl/ha

Individual yields varied from:

• 40hl/ha at Château Phelan Segur,
• 30hl/ha at Château Montrose,
• 39hl/ha at Château Cos d’Estournel,
• 42hl/ha Château Ormes de Pez.

What you find

Densely-coloured, classic, spicy and rich wines.

St-Estephe 2020 vintage characteristics

Among the five earliest vintages of the past 20 years, around 10-15 days ahead of average by the time of harvest. Record winter rains of 848mm from October 2019 through to the end of March 2020 ).

By the end of June, that total of rain (from October 2019 to June 19, 2020) had risen to 1,120mm (against an average of 735mm over the past 26 years). But from June 20 right through to 10 August just 5mm fell across St Estèphe, and Vincent Bache-Gabriel described conditions at Lilian Ladouys as the warmest summer since 1900.

Some areas saw ripening blocked, but 106mm falling from 11 to 20 August ensured things started growing again. Summer had a series of heatwaves from 20 June to August 10, with a number of days that headed over 40°C.

There were warm nights also in August, which meant malic acid dropping fast, but cool nights returned by the end of the month, keeping freshness (as did the clay soils), and in the end most estates saw small grapes with thick skins and excellent fruit flavours. During harvest, there was almost no rain over the first two weeks, and 58.8mm over the second two weeks (compare to 2018 with 36mm across all of September, and 2017 with 102mm).

Quick links for Bordeaux 2020 en primeur ratings

Search Bordeaux 2020 tasting notes published so far

Bordeaux 2020 vintage: our en primeur verdict

Top-scoring Bordeaux 2020 wines

Top St-Estephe 2020 picks:

• Château Calon Ségur,
• Château Montrose,
• Château Cos d’Estournel.

Value picks:

• Château Meyney,
• Château Beau Site,
• Château de Pez,
• Château La Croix de Pez,
• Château Haut-Marbuzet.
  

See the top-scoring St-Estephe 2020 en primeur wines

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Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

When Belgian shipping magnate Philippe Van de Vyvere arrived at Phélan Ségur in late 2017, he joined an appellation that has seen not only 20% of its estates change hands over the past decade, but one that has an unusually high number of Belgian owners.

There’s Baron Velge at Château Côme, Chris Cardon at La Haye, Gaëtan Lagneaux at Petit Bocq and now Van de Vyvere; not bad considering St-Estèphe has just 58 independent winemakers.

Beyond the appellation, they of course join other Belgian owners in Bordeaux, from the Thienpont family at Le Pin and Vieux Château Certan in Pomerol to the Bonnies at Malartic-Lagravière in Pessac-Léognan.

Scroll down for Jane Anson’s tasting notes and scores for Phélan Ségur wines

Van de Vyvere, who was born in 1953, was best known as a wealthy shipping magnate before his arrival in Bordeaux.

The Figaro newspaper lists him as a director of vast shipping conglomerate Ets Maritime de Caronte et de Fos, but he is understood to be involved with other related companies. These include Sea-Invest and Sea-Rail, according to Bloomberg.

This is his first wine investment, but one that clearly could be a game-changer for Phélan Ségur, which had been owned for the previous 30 years by the Gardinier family.

Factfile: Phélan Ségur

Owner: Philippe Van de Vyvere

General Director: Véronique Dausse

Vineyard Manager: Luc Peyronnet

Wine Cellar Master: Fabrice Bacquey

Consultants: Michel Rolland, Julien Viaud

Vineyard: 70 hectares (ha)

Average age of the vineyard: 35 years

Density of plantation: 10,000 vines per ha

Grape varieties: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1.5% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc

Phélan was the highest profile St-Estèphe estate to change hands since Calon Ségur in 2012.

It grew in stature under the Gardiniers to become one of the most celebrated in estates in the appellation, despite shrinking from 90ha at its height to 70ha by selling land to Montrose in 2010.

The Gardinier brothers, Stéphane, Thierry and Laurent, live in Paris. From here, they run a highly successful gourmet empire comprising Les Crayères in Champagne, Le Taillevent restaurants in Paris and London, and – since 2018 – the iconic restaurant Drouant, as well as a new caviar business named Comptoir de Caviar.

They brought glamour and international renown to Phélan, but hospitality is a notoriously money-hungry business, as are wine estates, and the new ownership structure gives more breathing room to Phélan.

Fresh investment

Van de Vyvere has already begun to invest by replanting 3ha of vines in 2019.

Further plans for another 3ha of new vines in 2020 have had to be slightly altered due to COVID19 and are now down to 2ha.

A project is also underway to plant a significant number of trees and plants under the supervision of English landscape gardener Tom Stuart Smith over the next three years.

A large area directly in front of the Château will be given over to indigenous perennial plants, alongside a pond to encourage wildlife. In 2021, cows will be reintroduced to the land alongside the Gironde Estuary.

There are also experiments in organic viticulture, with 4.5ha of vine already converted, although there are no plans to be formally certified.

Phélan Ségur was already a precursor in green farming, with no pesticides used since 1998. There had been a bumpy start to the Gardinier ownership, however; the entire 1983 vintage was recalled from the market the family refused to sell the next two vintages.

The Gardiniers cited an insecticide ‘Orthene 50’ made by Chevron Chemical Co that they felt had contaminated the water supply and made the harvest from 1984 and 1985 ‘undrinkable and unmarketable’. It turned into a US$57 million law suit that the family eventually won, establishing themselves as risk takers when it came to ensuring quality.

The new owner clearly plans to build on their work, although no doubt he hopes to do so through less dramatic methods.

The Phélan vineyard

The focus today is less on chemical usage and more on future-proofing the vineyard – a question being raised across the region right now.

Recent developments have included planting a small amount of Carménère and Malbec on certain plots of gravel to see if they better withstand the very hot summers that have been seen recently, and which can cause issues even with Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the same vein, back in 2013, plots of Petit Verdot were also introduced and Cabernet Franc plantings were increased slightly.

The vineyard of Phélan is laid out across four main sections, largely clay-gravel although with some areas of sandy-gravel that can be more challenging in hot dry summers like 2018 and 2019, and may benefit from these different varieties.

Renovation for Phélan’s cellar

In the cellar, optical sorting has been in place since 2011, and there are plans over the next few years to fully renovate the cellar and winery. Specifically, the teams wants to improve its environmental impact through water recycling and the capture of CO2, similar to techniques used at both Montrose and Smith-Haut-Lafitte.

And the château building itself will see a few renovations, too, under the guidance of Belgian architect Axel Vervoordt.

The dining room will be renamed ‘the Irish room’ in a nod to Bernard Phélan, another foreign owner who was here in the 19th century. He built the château and gave the estate half of its name.

This vertical tasting, spanning a decade of wines, showed an estate that is at the top of its game.

For me easily, Phélan Ségur is the St-Estèphe estate that would most likely be classified if the 1855 ranking was ever redone, which it won’t be. Most importantly, this estate offers wines that are consistent across vintages with a clear personality.

See Jane Anson’s Phélan Ségur tasting notes and scores

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Read Jane Anson’s full Left Bank 2017 in bottle report

All reviews published online exclusively for Premium subscribers

Yields in the St-Estèphe 2017 vintage were almost identical to those of 2016; the entire appellation escaped the frosts in the early part of the growing season, mainly due to the proximity of the Garonne river.

The year was also one of the earliest on record up in this corner of the Médoc, mainly due to an early bud-burst around 26 March – the same one that made buds elsewhere so vulnerable to cold weather. Excellent conditions in June also allowed for even flowering and kick-started ripening.

Veraison was 10 days earlier than in 2016, making producers a little better prepared to withstand the September rains than those areas where frost had delayed growth.

Some of my most consistent re-scores were in fact up here – bearing in mind I was re-tasting the classified wines – and it’s definitely an area I would recommend looking in the 2017 vintage.

There is still austerity and a cool character in the fruit, and the alcohols are in general far lower than you will find in the St-Estèphe 2018 wines, but these are well-built, carefully constructed wines with lots to enjoy.

Look out for: Château Montrose

See Jane Anson’s top St-Estèphe 2017 wines re-tasted in bottle

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Much has been written about recent cellar renovations at Châteaux Calon Ségur, Cos d’Estournel and Montrose. These three great estates from the northern Médoc appellation of St-Estèphe – along with fellow classified growths Châteaux Lafon Rochet and Cos Labory – serve as ‘motors’ for the appellation.

Scroll down for Panos Kakaviatos’ top wines from St-Estèphe

But savvy wine buyers should be aware of the appellation’s plethora of less-heralded estates, sometimes referred to (officially or not) as crus bourgeois. Such estates are crafting wines that can score 90+ points and cost less than £15 a bottle in-bond – the market hasn’t quite caught up with the improved quality.More precise viticulture and winemaking have helped. Climate change, too, according to Henri Duboscq of Château Haut-Marbuzet. ‘The absence of deep gravels here led to a less noble image for the appellation, but the evident heating of the planet – generating Senegal-like summers and late Indian summers – means sunny harvests for better ripening,’ he explains.

Located about 50km north of Bordeaux, St-Estèphe is home to 1,250ha of vines. Proximity to the sea and the Gironde estuary results in a mild climate with regular temperatures, sunshine and breezes that benefit nearly 60 independent and some 15 cooperative winegrowers. The vineyards extend over soils that include sand, heat-retaining gravel, limestone and plenty of clays, which protect vines from hydric stress in very dry years such as 2018. At their best, the wines are powerful, racy, fresh and long on the finish. ‘Sometimes a little austere in their early youth, they gain softness with cellar ageing,’ remarks Jean-Charles Cazes of Château Ormes de Pez.

To some extent, its distance to the north has been a weakness, believes Marine Lemmens of Château Meyney. ‘In the collective unconscious, the one-hour drive to Pauillac from Bordeaux poses a psychological limit,’ she says. This may also explain why, for many years, the less well-known wines did not gain much traction in the market.

‘We have long been in the shadow of other communal appellations,’ adds Alexis Angliviel de La Beaumelle of Château Petit Bocq. But he stresses the architectural beauty of many cellars in St-Estèphe – at Montrose and Cos d’Estournel, for example (see ‘Producer profile: Château Montrose’). ‘Summer tourists heading for the beach will soon have more incentives to stop and discover the appellation, as plans for high-end wine tours are coming to fruition,’ he notes.

United front

Earlier this year, the St-Estèphe winemakers union purchased the St-Estèphe Maison du Vin with a view to offering more tours and tastings. It will open in July 2020, according to Bernard Audoy, who is both union president and owner of Château Cos Labory.

Some estates featured here seek official cru bourgeois ranking, in a return to the historical hierarchy of the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, with three categories: cru bourgeois, cru bourgeois supérieur and cru bourgeois exceptionnel. These terms should be appearing again on wine labels starting with the 2018 vintage. Philippe Castéja of Château Beau-Site, a 35ha château that neighbours third-growth Château Calon Ségur, explains the rationale: ‘If the best Médoc wines were unable to participate for one reason or another in the 1855 classification, which is the case for Beau-Site, then participating in this new ranking will lend them more lustre.’

Better-known estates – including Haut- Marbuzet, Meyney, Ormes de Pez, Phélan Ségur and Tronquoy-Lalande – will not be seeking cru bourgeois ranking, given what they see as the power of their brands, or because endless contestations led to the previous official ranking, in 2003, being cancelled. ‘Re-establishing the hierarchy is a positive initiative, but we consider ourselves to be more at the level of a classified growth,’ explains Lemmens.

In any case, the appellation is known for solidarity; most château owners I talk to heap praise on Audoy’s leadership. Château Le Crock director Sara Lecompte Cuvelier explains that the high level of solidarity was proven when fire damaged her château in August last year. ‘Château Haut Marbuzet loaned us equipment, Château Pomys opened up a hangar for us to store tractors in over the winter, and Château Léoville Barton (St-Julien) lent us cellar space to store our bottles,’ she notes.

The unified team spirit is accentuated by rising wine quality, with good to great price-to-quality ratios. As Lemmens explains: ‘The wines here have long had the reputation of being virile, muscular, not to say firm and rustic, but this era is now largely gone, and that’s happy news.

Château Beau-Site

The transformation of this 35ha estate has been discernible since 2006 when, among other initiatives, owner Philippe Castéja acquired new thermo-regulated stainless steel vats, which he says have ‘allowed us to improve our harvesting by plot, according to maturity and grape varieties.’ He adds: ‘Denis Dubourdieu’s team – today Valérie Lavigne and Axel Marchal – have also counselled fermenting at cooler temperatures of 23°C-26°C, to protect the expression of fruit and freshness.’

Château Capbern

The 38ha vineyard here has undergone restructuring identical to that of the famous third growth Château Calon Ségur, which shares the same ownership. As director Laurent Duffau says: ‘We are increasing the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon and the density of plantation to 8,000 or 10,000 vines per hectare. Since 2010, the new vat room has helped to improve quality and, as of this year, a cooling tunnel after de-stemming will enable us to better control cold extractions before fermentation.’

Château Le Crock

This 32ha estate is owned by the Cuvelier family, known for Château Léoville Poyferré in St-Julien. Organic viticulture – currently 20% of the vineyard – with less sulphite use and more precise winemaking has been a goal. It obtained HVE Level 3, France’s highest level of certified sustainable viticulture in 2018, requiring reduced pesticide and fungicide use, high standards for water and fertiliser management, and a biodiversity programme.

Château Haut-Marbuzet

Long known for its 100% new-oak ageing, the château has seen its vineyards, on soils of gravel over clay and limestone, grow to 75ha after recent purchases. It had been planted to 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, but Petit Verdot planted in 2005 has now replaced half of the Cabernet Franc in blends, according to owner Henri Duboscq. A new cellar space has helped to make vinification more precise, and a future focus is on more organic viticulture.

Château Lilian Ladouys

Just as wine lovers no longer dub Pauillac’s Château Pedesclaux ‘Château Pedestrian’, Château Lilian Ladouys is no longer lacklustre. The inspired ownership of Jacky Lorenzetti has led to improved quality in both the vineyard and vat room. Last year, the estate grew in size from 46ha to 80.5ha, following the purchase of selected vineyards from Châteaux Clauzet and Tour de Pez, according to director Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen. His goal was to consolidate the vineyard, which was previously too fragmented. Now the estate has 80% gravel and 20% clay and limestone soils, and plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon have been increased.

Château Tour de Pez

Recent ownership shake-ups have resulted in the property losing 10ha of its 30ha to Château Lilian Ladouys. Its owner since January this year, Vignobles de Larose – known for Haut-Médoc brands Châteaux Arnauld, Larose Perganson and Larose- Trintaudon – is planning major improvements. These include increasing vineyard density for nearly half the vineyard, from 6,800 to 10,000 plants per hectare, setting up a vat room that’s adapted to cold pre-fermentation maceration, and the use of optical grape sorting at harvest. Pauillac-based oenologist and consultant Christophe Coupez says that the new owners will make the wine ‘much more precise’ for the terroir, which he calls a ‘sleeping beauty’.

Château Petit Bocq

A trend at the 20ha Château Petit Bocq has been a gradual increase in the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine, over the last decade, either through replanting or the acquisition of high-quality vineyard parcels. In addition, Petit Verdot was introduced in 2009. Goals for the near future include obtaining HVE Level 3 certification.

Château Ormes de Pez

The recent focus at this 35ha estate – under the same ownership as Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac – has been on greater precision through soil analysis, supplemented by satellite cartography, which has enabled precise parcel division. A move towards green viticulture is evidenced by recent HVE Level 3 certification, and the abandonment of weeding throughout the vineyard to promote biodiversity. Optical sorting was recently introduced, along with a more careful selection of oak barrels, explains director Jean-Charles Cazes.

Château Tronquoy Lalande

Out of some 30ha, more than half the vineyard is planted with Merlot on deep clay soils, distinguishing it from many of its neighbours. The wine has improved since the acquisition by Bouygues Group, more than 10 years ago, with Hervé Berland as director. The revamped cellar is equipped with 16 compartmentalised vats, enabling more precise vinification. The past three years have also seen a transition to organic viticulture: more than one third of the estate is now organic, with plans to turn to 100% organic viticulture in the next five years.

Château Meyney

The 51ha Château Meyney neighbours Château Montrose, and has a similar slope of vines reaching down to the Gironde estuary. From a programme to increase planting density in the vineyard, to the acquisition of variably sized fermentation tanks that match reconfigured vineyard parcels, the estate has improved its wines in recent years. In 2016, Château Meyney obtained HVE Level 3 certification. The 2019 harvest will be more gentle, says estate representative Marine Lemmens, as new ‘vibrating bins’ will transfer grapes to sorting tables more carefully.

Château Phélan Ségur

Since the 2017 purchase by Philippe Van de Vyvere, vineyard renewal has taken centre stage at this 70ha estate, whose parcels adjoin the vineyards of Châteaux Montrose and Calon Ségur. ‘We are increasing the share of Cabernet Sauvignon (now 58%), but also adjusting Cabernet Sauvignon plots that would suit Merlot (39%) better, as clay soils are colder and more suitable for Merlot,’ explains director Véronique Dausse. The acquisition in 2011 of an optical sorting machine and smaller vats to reflect the inter-parcel vineyards have helped to improve precision.

Château de Pez

Together with its neighbour Calon Ségur, Château de Pez is the oldest St-Estèphe estate, its 26ha under vine dominating a high plateau at 18m, with well-exposed slopes that descend to 12m. Under the same ownership as Château Pichon Comtesse in Pauillac, recent changes here include uprooting and replanting, and a new cellar space is in the pipeline. Softer pressing and an advanced reflection on plot-by-plot extraction in the vat room have already yielded a more refined wine.

See Panos Kakaviatos’ top wines from St-Estèphe

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At midnight on 18 June 2015, 1,600 guests at La Fête de La Fleur streamed out from dinner in Château Montrose’s 11m-high barrel cellar to watch blue and silver fireworks shoot up into the sky like sparkling fountains. The lavish finale to the Vinexpo wine show felt like a celebration for the latest chapter in this St-Estèphe second growth’s 200-year story.

Scroll down for McCoy’s top picks from Château Montrose

The new era began in 2006, when billionaires Martin Bouygues and his brother Olivier purchased Montrose for €140m and began pouring in more millions on a seven-year renovation that elevated both the wine’s quality and Bordeaux’s eco-consciousness.

When I meet Martin in an elegant office at the estate the morning after the event, he is still basking in the party’s glow. ‘My father always wanted to own a great Bordeaux estate,’ he explains. ‘I fell in love with 1989 Montrose at a California dinner party. I always thought that if the château ever came up for sale, I would immediately go for it.’

He bought at the right time, when Montrose was ripe for the kind of visionary updating underway at St-Estèphe’s other second growth, Château Cos d’Estournel. After multimillionaire Michel Reybier purchased Cos in late 2000, he quickly set about trying to bring it up to ‘first growth level’. Third growth Château Calon Ségur followed suit when a French insurance company bought it in 2012.

All this has helped upgrade the profile of St-Estèphe’s fiercely tannic, sometimes rustic wines. Montrose’s gravelly terroir always produced dense, powerful, muscular examples that took decades to mature, but ambitious neighbour Cos d’Estournel’s recent vintages had more flash and luxury buzz. Now, Montrose’s top vintages – such as 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016 – also show more flesh, polish, purity and sophisticated elegance, but retain their trademark depth and richness.

Yet St-Estèphe, the northernmost appellation in the Médoc, still feels a bit like the middle of nowhere. It has fewer crus classés than any other commune, and no first growths. Besides Montrose, Cos and Calon Ségur, there’s only fourth growth Lafon-Rochet and fifth growth Cos Labory.

Where Montrose tops them all – and the rest of Bordeaux – today is in its commitment to the environment. The Bouygues’ vision of a sustainable wine estate is a model to follow in this age of climate change.

In the beginning

The Bouygues brothers like to frame Montrose’s history before they arrived as the individual stories of three separate families – a good way to describe its past 200 years. At the beginning, it was a huge parcel of land covered with pink heather (Montrose means pink hill) within the Calon Ségur estate, which the wealthy Dumoulin family bought in 1778. When it passed to younger son Etienne Théodore Dumoulin in 1812 he saw the hill’s terroir potential, so he planted vineyards, built a modest château and, in 1824, sold off the rest of Calon Ségur. He made Montrose one of the Médoc’s finest estates, gaining second-growth status in the 1855 classification.

Mathieu Dollfus, an industrialist from Alsace with a surprising social conscience, acquired it in 1866. He turned to technology to solve problems, installing a wind turbine and flooding vineyards to fight phylloxera, as well as providing his staff with free healthcare and profit-sharing.

Last came three generations of the Charmolüe family, who weathered economic depression, a major cellar fire, and occupation by German forces during their 110 years of ownership. From the 1990s, the wine became one of the best wines in St-Estèphe, but it lagged behind other top Bordeaux second growths in elegance.

New ambitions

The Bouygues’ $4.2bn fortune comes from their international construction and telecom companies. To me, the family has a lot in common with Montrose’s previous owners. They, too, are builders and believers in technology and research, ready to dedicate decades to improving Montrose.

Their wine ambitions were evident in one of their first decisions: hiring first-growth big-name Jean-Bernard Delmas, who spent his 47-year career perfecting first-growth Château Haut-Brion before retiring. The sounds of construction were all around us when I spent a day with him in 2009. Bouygues Renovation Privée, a division of Bouygues Construction, tapped the latest technology to make the buildings energy self-sufficient through solar, water and wind power. Delmas made changes in the vineyard – cutting yields, picking plots by ripeness (instead of all at once, as Charmolüe did) – and started replanting.

Another big name, Hervé Berland, the energetic managing director at first-growth Château Mouton Rothschild, succeeded him in 2012. There was a lot to work with. ‘What makes Montrose’s vineyard so unique,’ says Berland during my recent March visit, ‘is that it’s a single rectangular block, with the same boundaries as when it was classified. This gives the wines an authenticity that many other crus classés – with added land – don’t have.’ (In 2010, the Bouygues brothers bought 22ha of vines from neighbouring Château Phélan Ségur that had been part of Montrose in the 19th century.)

You feel a constant cool wind when you stand on the stone terrace and look out over the vines sloping down to the Gironde river, the largest estuary in Europe. The water’s moderating influence means Montrose has always escaped frost and remains cooler than other parts of Bordeaux on even the hottest days, keeping the wines fresh.

‘The terroir has first-growth potential,’ Berland insists, pointing out that it has the same type of gravelly terraces as Château Latour. In-depth studies of the vineyard’s 26 diverse soil units allow picking at the right moment. ‘Precision in the vineyard,’ he says, ‘is the key to the style of the wine.’ Organic viticulture and changes in vinification have helped. Slower, gentler extractions at lower temperatures and shortened maceration times have made the wines silkier and more approachable. With global warming, he intends to shift to the more late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which used to be hard to ripen in some years.

Château Montrose at a glance

Owners Martin and Olivier Bouygues

CEO Hervé Berland

Appellation St-Estèphe

Classification Second growth

Vineyard area 95ha

Soils Well-drained gravelly plateau, clay-rich subsoil

Plantings 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot

Wines Château Montrose, La Damede Montrose,Le St-Estèphe de Montrose

Other estates Château Tronquoy- Lalande (St- Estèphe), Clos Rougeard (Loire), Domaine Henri Rebourseau (Burgundy)

Château Montrose: a timeline

1778: Etienne Théodore Dumoulin purchases Château Calon Ségur, which includes land that becomes Montrose

1824: Dumoulin’s son sells Calon Ségur, but keeps Montrose

1855: Montrose ranked second growth in the 1855 classification

1866: Dumoulin’s children sell to businessman Matthieu Dollfus

1887: Jean-Jules Hostein, co-owner of Château Cos d’Estournel, buys the estate

1896: Montrose passes to Hostein’s son-in-law, Louis Victor Charmolüe

1942: RAF flyer mistakenly bombs the vineyards, destroying large sections

1984: Introduction of the second wine, La Dame de Montrose

2006: Martin and Olivier Bouygues purchase the estate and hire Jean-Bernard Delmas

2007: Renovation and replanting of the property begins

2010: Montrose purchases 22ha of neighbour Château Phélan Ségur’s vines, which were formerly part of Montrose in the 19th century. A third wine, Le St-Estèphe de Montrose, is introduced

2012: Hervé Berland becomes CEO

2014: The new winery and cellars open after seven years of renovation

2016: The first organic crop is harvested

2019: The mass clonal selection process for historic plots of Merlot begins

Going green

The most striking changes since the Bouygues family took over are things that you don’t immediately spot. Building exteriors have been spruced up and interiors have been transformed in order to reduce the estate’s carbon footprint and become completely energy self-sufficient.

The list of eco-friendly accomplishments at Montrose is long: there are 3,000m2 of solar panels on roofs that are invisible from the ground, a geothermal facility to produce energy for heat and air conditioning, and a waste-water treatment plant.

A local winery architect and specialist in historic monuments ensured that 10,000m2 of extra insulation behind walls, with pipes and cables hidden in pillars, didn’t disturb the 18th-century design. The cost of energy at the estate is now zero.

One of the latest innovations is recovering the carbon dioxide from fermentation, turning it into bicarbonate of soda and using it to develop a detergent for cleaning tanks and barrels. Sheep graze between the vine rows to provide weed control. By 2020, 100% of the vineyard will be organic, and composting vine shoots and grape skins for later use is the norm. Berland explains that they are also transitioning to lighter electric tractors.

Recently, he’s been obsessed with biodiversity. An inventory of the estate’s natural resources turned up 21 butterfly species and 31 bird species, inspiring actions to conserve the natural areas surrounding the vineyard. He has also addressed concerns for employees (such as using ergonomic tools to prevent injuries).

The scope of it all leaves you a little breathless, wondering just how much all this will eventually cost.

‘We have built for future generations,’ Bouygues once assured me. Montrose’s 19th-century owner Dollfus would surely have approved.

What’s next?

Over lunch (and a delicious Montrose 2005) in an elegant new dining room where Charmolüe used to keep his collection of historic carriages, Berland outlines the next leap into the future. ‘We are trying to get as close as possible to the DNA of Montrose,’ he confides. ‘We are defining its identity.’ What that means is a study programme to preserve the gene pool of Montrose’s 60-year-old vines, selecting the best and, from 2025, using them to renew the vineyard. ‘That way we can produce wine that is the archetype of Montrose.’ It seems as if they are going way beyond that, aiming for the equivalent of first-growth status.

For now, the brothers are using their experience at Château Montrose to feed the other ‘small gem’ properties they’ve recently acquired: Clos Rougeard in the Loire Valley, and a majority share of Domaine Henri Rebourseau in Burgundy. Berland admits he’s looking in the Napa Valley too.

‘A lot of people are coming to visit us, to see what we’re doing,’ he explains. ‘We’re prepared to take every risk to keep Montrose in the firmament of the world’s great wines.’

Elin McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author who writes for Bloomberg News

See McCoy’s top picks from Château Montrose

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There are extremely good St-Estèphe wines in 2018, but the appellation is generally more in-line with what I expected before tasting; texture, power and tannins, but also alcohol.

I might go slightly against the grain here, but I found more concentration in St-Estèphe than usual, and overall the AOC was more up and down than it has been for me over the past four years.It is without doubt a year for hedonists up here, and that is not always the case.Rustic tannins are the exception rather than the rule for sure, and exuberant flavours are everywhere you look.

Yields

The yields tell you just how concentrated these wines are.

Although average yield for the appellation was 44.6 hectares per hectolitre, you can find 25hl/ha at Montrose, 34hl/ha at Le Crock and 30hl/ha at Cos d’Estournel. For comparison, Cos was at 45hl/ha in the highly rated 2016 vintage.

Alcohols

Alcohols are again unusually high for the Left Bank. Montrose 2018 is at 14.8%abv, with Calon at 14.9%, Cos at 14.59% and Ormes de Pez at 14.6%.

Cabernets often reached higher alcohol than Merlots, as also happened in Pauillac and St-Julien.

This produced some unusual outcomes, such as Calon first and second wines having the same alcohol levels, because all the grapes had reached roughly the same potential sugars.

I’ve been trying to work out why, and have come up with a few theories.

Maybe the numerous outcrops that are spread across the appellation made a difference, increasing the exposure to the wind in October.

Maybe the clay soils meant they had to wait for the ripeness for the skins, but then lost the volume because of the delay.

Certainly I heard many times that there was less juice than expected when it came in to the vats.

Montrose was one of many who said they ended up picking more swiftly than expected, because they saw how far the grapes were concentrating through evaporation. Grapes were losing around 1.5% in volume per day in October, largely because of winds.

Hot weather throughout much of the summer and lasting into autumn also set the scene.

‘In theory it it easier to manage drought in St-Estèphe because of the clay in the subsoil’, said Nicolas Glumineau at Château de Pez.

‘But if you didn’t focus enough on taming the tannins and controlling that concentration, you could make monsters’.

I found this year’s de Pez highly appealing, with rich plum fruits and firm but flexible tannins. Likewise, Montrose – cited above – seems to have consumed its alcohol rather effortlessly, although careful sorting was required after harvest.

And I don’t want to be overly critical overall. There are wonderfully impressive barrel samples in St-Estèphe.

The tannin count in St-Estèphe is often pretty similar to 2016, yet the character of the tannins is very different, and almost invariably more seductive and succulent.

But I have some hesitation over their classicism and typicity, and my suggestion for buyers may be that the 2016 is simply more reflective of the very best of this appellation.

St-Estèphe wines potentially offering the best value: Ormes de Pez, de Pez and Meyney.

Top Scoring wines: Cos d’Estournel and Montrose.

See our best rated St-Estèphe 2018 wines

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

'These are wines that you are going to love drinking,' says Jane Anson in her in-bottle report. See the updated ratings below.

Introduction by Chris Mercer.

A big success in 2016, because the higher levels of limestone and clay in the soils withstood the drought better than some gravels,’ wrote Jane Anson after tasting St-Estèphe wines en primeur.

This northernmost appellation of the Médoc’s ‘big four’ has increasingly won admirers in recent years, and Anson re-confirmed in her in-bottle report for Bordeaux 2016 wines that it has been a great year for many producers in St-Estèphe.

Here are some of her highlights.

St-Estèphe 2016 wines

See the notes in our reviews database

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See all St-Estèphe 2016 wine reviews, including en primeur notes

Jane Anson looks at what's changed in St-Estèphe, and re-tastes 38 wines from 2014 - 'a vintage not to miss'....

Anson: Top St-Estèphe 2014 wines

Has any Médoc appellation seen more dynamic movement than St-Estèphe in the last few years? I would strongly argue no.

If there’s one statistic that makes this clear it’s that in the past decade, 20% of the appellation’s estates have changed hands.

Scroll down for Jane’s St-Estèphe 2014 tasting notes & scores

Among the most notable recent exchanges have been the Gardinier brothers selling Phelan-Segur to Belgian investor Philippe Van de Vyvere, Roederer selling Haut-Beausejour to Pierre Rousseau (who also purchased Lafitte Carcasset in 2015) and Pomys going over to Cos d’Estournel.

Jacky Lorenzetti of Lilian Ladouys picked up both Clauzet, from Baron Velge, and Tour de Pez, from the Bouchera family. Then there’s Bernard Magrez buying former Cru Arisan Château La Peyre (promptly renaming it as Clos Sanctus Perfectus).

At the same time Gonzargue Lurton has sold Château Domeyne to négociant house Ginestet, while Mahler Besse has sold a majority stake in Château Picard to fellow merchant Borie Manoux (owner Philippe Castéja already owns Beau Site), and Hong Kong company Long Faith International has bought Château Tour St Fort and is due to open an opulent chambres d’hotes and wine tourism centre later this year.

As with Pauillac, one key source of new estates comes from grape growers who were taking their fruit to the local cooperative cellar until recently. For example, Château Marceline took production back in-house in 2009, and Château Haut-Barron created its Haut-Medoc estate from former cooperative fruit in 2011, and its St-Estèphe more recently in 2014.

Thirty years ago the local cooperative took in around 200ha of grapes, while today it is closer to 35ha; in Pauillac the numbers stood at around 150ha at its height in the 1970s and 1980s and has today shrunk to 25ha. A more usual destination for these former cooperative vines is to existing châteaux who are consolidating and expanding their holdings – so Lilian Ladouys, Tour de Pez, Petit Bocq, Clauzet and Serilhan have all grown their vineyards in this way.

Much of this has been hugely healthy for the appellation, with repeated injections of capital and new ideas bringing better winemaking techniques, such as a desire to soften and round out those sometimes rustic tannins that plagued St-Estèphe’s reputation for years – a result of its soils, which share the gravels of Pauillac and St Julien but with more instances of clay both in the subsoils and at the surface, along with spots of limestone. The clay gives power and richness to the wines while maintaining freshness (some of the best 2003s came from here, for example), but can tend towards burliness if not tamed. The clay also translates into higher Merlot than in sibling communals – there is routinely 50% or more Merlot at a number of estates here, including La Commanderie, de Côme, Lilian Ladouys, Petit Bocq, Tour des Termes and L’Argilus de Roi.

One-level Cru Bourgeois

It’s not all good news though – I hear that some of the sales have been forced because of issues with the one-level Cru Bourgeois system, introduced in 2008 – essentially in dragging the prices of the more prestigious estates down by getting rid of the three-tier system.

With only five 1855 classifieds, St-Estèphe has always been a reliable source of some of the best Cru Bourgeois, so it was hit particularly hard by the levelling of the system when the Cru Bourgeois Superieur and Exceptionnel estates were removed. Out of the nine Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels, four were in St-Estèphe, alongside 12 Cru Bourgeois Superieurs – more than any other communal Médoc AOC.

The fact that so many of the recent sales involve these names (all but Ormes de Pez have changed hands out of the Exceptionnels) perhaps indicates the resulting financial strain and also suggests why there is such enthusiasm from the chateaux for the three-level ranking being reintroduced in 2020.

What is undeniable is that there is a sense of renewal in the air in this corner of the Médoc peninsula. Add all of this to the fact that the appellation has enjoyed a run of good vintages and you start to see why this is a good time to get on board.

I have written several times about the success of the northern Médoc in 2014 – the Indian summer suited them perfectly, with many harvesting until 16 October, even up to 21 October in a few cases.

This was possible because there was significantly less rainfall here than in the southern Médoc and on the right bank, and after an extensive re-tasting of the wines last week, looking at 38 estates, I’m very happy to underline that this is a vintage not to miss in St-Estèphe. Rich brambly flavours abound, with tannins that are starting to soften and give the fruit free rein.

The wines

I found amazing consistency between the wines at the tasting. 87 was my lowest score and 96 my highest – very impressive for a horizontal that included 1855 classified growths right down to small Cru Artisans and beyond.

Many are starting to grow into their potential and this is reflected in the scores: I gave Calon Ségur 95 last year and the same now, but Lafon Rochet got 93 a year ago but 94 this time, and Cos Labory 91 a year ago but 92 now… exactly what you want with wines that are getting a few years of bottle age under their belt.

Top five best value

Many of the 38 wines tasted offer brilliant value, but these five below all scored well and sell for between €15 and €30 in France – and should be available for similar prices in the UK.

Château Andron BlanquetChâteau Le BoscqChâteau Ormes de PezChâteau Tour des TermesChâteau de Côme

The tasting notes and scores for all 38 wines below are available exclusively to Decanter Premium members. 

Top St-Estèphe 2014 wines:

Bordeaux second growth Château Cos d'Estournel is set to release a new cuvée this year.

The new wine, named COS100, is made from a parcel of 100 year-old Merlot vines planted at Cos d’Estournel by women during the First World War.

The wine, named ‘COS100’, comes from the Bordeaux 2015 vintage and will only be available in large format bottles.

Only 100 double magnums (3 litres) and 10 balthazars (12 litres) were bottled – by hand – from two barrels.

‘With COS100, I want to pay tribute to the terroir, and to acknowledge the women who, more than a hundred years ago, courageously worked in the vineyard to ensure the continuity of the estate,’ Cos d’Estournel owner and businessman Michel Reybier was quoted as saying in French financial paper Les Echos.

In 1915, most male vineyard workers were fighting or had died on the Western Front during the First World War.

According to Les Echos, two balthazars of the cuvee will be up for grabs at Sotheby’s auctions in New York and Hong Kong on 28 February.

A further two double magnums and elephant scultpures will also be for sale.

All money gained from the lots will go to Elephant Family, a charity that protects Asian elephants and their habitat.

The elephant forms part of the Château’s brand image.

The château – considered by many industry commentators to be part of a handful of top-quality “super second” growth producers – was built with an oriental twist.

It’s original owner, Gaspard d’Estournel, was known as the ‘Maharajah of St-Estèphe’. He founded the estate in 1811.

Further bottles of COS100 will be available through the château’s website. Prices were available to customers on request, the estate said. 

Coming soon: Decanter Premium members will be able to see Jane Anson’s tasting note for COS100. 

See Jane Anson’s ratings for Bordeaux 2015 Médoc wines in the bottle

Phélan Ségur in Bordeaux's St-Estèphe appellation has been sold by the Gardinier family to a Belgian investor for an undisclosed fee.

• Phélan Ségur sold to Philippe Van de Vyvere

• Handover by Gardinier brothers expected in early 2018

• Family to focus on fine food after owning St-Estèphe estate since 1984

The sale of St-Estèphe’s Phelan Segur has been confirmed this morning (05 September), with the 70-hectare property passing from the hands of brothers Thierry, Laurent and Stéphane Gardinier to Philippe Van de Vyvere, Belgian owner of Sea-Invest shipping company.

Thierry Gardinier confirmed to Decanter.com that the handover is planned for the beginning of 2018, and that director Véronique Dausse will remain in place alongside the entire team.

Speculation about a deal had been growing in Bordeaux and it follows a string of acquisitions in the region so far this year.

Phélan Ségur is one of the most highly regarded châteaux in St-Estèphe in the north of Médoc.

See Jane Anson’s rating for the Phélan Ségur 2016 en primeur wine

‘We have decided to devote the bulk of our future investments to the fine-food trades and high end hotel business,’ the Gardinier brothers said in a press release.

‘Wine is one of our great passions and is still central to our business, so we will be keeping in close contact with our winegrowing friends.’

Phelan Ségur is named after an Irish courtier, Bernard Phélan, who moved to Bordeaux in the 18^th century. Is second wine, Franck Phélan, is named after his son.

It has been owned by the Gardinier family since Xavier Gardinier bought the property in 1984. He died in July 2013.

The Gardinier et Fils group owns Hotel des Crayères in Champagne and the Taillevent hotel group in Paris and London, 500ha of orange farms in Florida and the Comptoir de Caviar.

The business is now split into three sectors – Gardinier Hospitality, Gardinier Retail and Gardinier Estate.

‘My intention is for Phélan Ségur remains one of the great wines of the St-Estèphe AOC,’ said Van de Vyvere.

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The owner of Bordeaux second growth Château Cos d'Estournel has purchased fellow St-Estèphe estate Château Pomys, Decanter.com has confirmed.

[Picture credit: Booking.com]

Château Pomys, the 12 hectare St-Estèphe property owned by the Arnaud family since 1991, has been bought by Michel Reybier of Château Cos d’Estournel.

Pomys, in one of the highest points of St-Estèphe, has a hotel and restaurant with ten bedrooms that has been run by Alain Morardet since 2010. It was also the home of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel when he owned Cos as one large estate in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Aymeric de la Gironde, director of Cos, told Decanter.com, ‘The opportunity to recreate the original entity of Cos d’Estournel was incredible, and our main reason for purchase was to secure the original château of the estate. It is one of the most stunning properties in the appellation’.

The decision as to whether to keep the hotel has not yet been decided, but Mr Reybier does own the luxury Le Réserve hotels in Geneva, Paris and Ramatuelle, as well as La Chartreuse guest house at Cos d’Estournel itself and several other luxury hotels across Europe.

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Multi-millionaire Bernard Magrez, owner of Château Pape Clement in Bordeaux, has bought a parcel of vines in the region's St-Estèphe appellation in order to create a new, small-scale wine label.

Bernard Magrez said the small plot of vines in St-Estèphe in northern Médoc would produce just 3,000 bottles of wine annually.

He did not reveal a purchase price. Vineyards in St-Estèphe cost an average 350,000 euros per hectare in 2014, according to French land agency Safer.

The wine will be bottled under the newly-created name of Clos Sanctus Perfectus, and will comes from vines in a plot known as La Peyre, in the Marbuzet sector of St-Estèphe.

The first vintage will be 2016, said Magrez, who was this year named the 94th richest person in France by Challenges magazine. He has a fortune of 700 million euros, the publication estimated.

‘This purchase is a continuation of our search for rare and under-valued terroirs,’ a spokesperson for Magrez said of the acquisition.

Bernard Magrez is owner of four classified properties comprising Pape Clement, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Fombrauge and La Tour Carnet.

He owns dozens of other properties worldwide, but announced in 2015 that that he was looking to sell his 13 non-classified Bordeaux estates while adding to his classified properties.

‘Clearly Bernard Magrez has not stepped back from his commitment to increase the number of classified estates under his ownership,’ said a press release announcing the latest purchase in St-Estèphe.

Clos Sanctus Perfectus will be sold only through a small number of wine shops worldwide, it added.

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Regular readers may remember that I bought twelve bottles of outstanding St Estephe last year. They arrived, packed in the traditional Bordeaux wooden case. There’s no cellar in my rented house, so I put the box in the near-windowless, north-facing laundry room next to where I type this. It’s still there, minus a few bottles, but otherwise doing fine.

I’ve always loved what the British call ‘claret boxes’. Each is, in effect, an individual, portable cellar: sturdy, dark yet airy. All the customer has to do is get the temperature right, and the wine will age happily inside the box for years. Open carefully (the staples can be vicious), remove a bottle, and the box can be shut again as effectively as any cellar door. Once you’ve finished the wine, you can stick the box on the back of your bike, keep your tools in it or use it as kindling for the barbecue. The branded box-ends decorate thousands of wine bars around the globe. A recent trip to Bordeaux gave me the chance to find out more about this model of sustainable utility.

My assumption was that Bordeaux’s ‘OWC’ tradition existed thanks to plentiful local wood supplies from the million-hectare Forêt des Landes de Gascogne, the largest managed forest in Western Europe. The vineyards of the entire left bank (from the tip of the Médoc right down to Sauternes) dissolve into woodland once the good terroir runs out, and the forest continues unbroken almost all the way south to Madiran and the river Adour, hence its Gascogne identity. Most of it was planted in the C19, principally with Pinus pinaster, the maritime pine. The pines stopped the advancing sand dunes; Pauillac might otherwise now look like the Pilat dune at Arcachon (also Europe’s largest).

Claret boxes did once represent the marriage of local wine and local wood, Joackim di Dio told me; he’s the commercial director of Adampack, founded in 1880 and now France’s largest manufacturer of wooden cases and boxes. But no longer: “around 90 per cent of the box trade now uses imported, ready-cut wood from Spain and Portugal.” A question of price? “The imports are cheaper, but there is also a difference in the wood. Spanish and Portuguese pine tends to be lighter and whiter, whereas the pine here is more resinous, redder, and sometimes with bigger knots.” True Aquitaine pine is said to be flammé in French – a banded look created by prominent growth rings, whereas Iberian pine is plainer. At around four euros each, I was surprised how little a wooden box costs; if you want knot-free wood, though, that can add around 30% to the bill.

I also wondered if there were new developments in the offing for First Growths and their kind. It seems a little strange, after all, to put a product which might cost five or six thousand euros into a four-euro pack, no matter how admirably functional that pack is. What about locked boxes, insulated boxes or exotic display woods?

Innovation, it would seem, hasn’t gone that far yet, though some properties (like the Haut-Brion-owned Quintus, formerly Tertre Daugay and L’Arrosée in St Emilion; and Croix de Beaucaillou, now a ‘Grande Réserve’ made from a group of separate parcels at Ducru, and in Jade Jagger-designed packaging) are experimenting with coloured woods and gilded lettering. The Quintus box has a sliding rather than stapled top, though this requires the finished box to be plastic wrapped. Mouton and Latour both use banded boxes, as DRC does, with the band fitting into a recess on the top of the box.

Up-market six-bottle cases increasingly tend to be long and flat rather than the traditional chunky 3×3 format, and Cheval Blanc, di Dio told me, no longer uses any 12-bottle cases; all the wine is packed in boxes of 6 bottles or less. The most lavish boxes of all feature individual sliding containers for each bottle, like a little chest of drawers; these tend to be used for auction collections of different vintages which come directly from the châteaux, though Larose-Trintaudon released an ‘advent calendar’ version containing 24 half-bottles. Other regions around the wine world increasingly use wooden boxes to convey quality. The annual sampling case distributed to journalists by the Gimblett Gravels producers in Hawkes Bay, for example, arrived in a wooden box this year in which the bottles are stored upright (though only seven of the 12 were screwcap-closed).

The disadvantage of wooden boxes is their weight, of course, meaning a larger carbon footprint than cardboard – though glass is a bigger culprit in the overall bottled wine equation. If you’re lucky enough to have a real cellar, too, then any attendant humidity will make short work of cardboard, whereas trusty wood will keep damp decades at bay. Only dry rot (Serpula lachrymens) can make the claret box tremble – and eventually collapse, as I witnessed in the one house I’ve ever owned with a cellar. Even then, the wine racks deteriorated first, long before the sturdy, squat boxes gave way to the innocuous-looking fungus.

Written by Andrew Jefford

Chateau Calon Ségur, the renowned Saint Estephe third growth, has reportedly been sold to a group of French investors for around €200m.

Despite owner Helene Gasqueton-Baritault’s letter sent in September 2011 to various Bordeaux négociants, and to Decanter.com, clarifying that she would be continuing to run the family property, reports of a sale have been circulating since the death of former owner Denise Capbern-Gasqueton in September last year.

One source close to the chateau, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the sale to Decanter.com yesterday, saying that French taxes payable after Madame Gasqueton’s death had made it impossible for the family to hold on to the estate.

He confirmed that it had gone to a group of French – mainly Bordelais – investors.

There are also unconfirmed reports that Credit Mutuel de Bretagne is involved in the deal.

The sale involves the 55ha Chateau Calon Segur and the family’s other estate, 35ha cru bourgeois, Chateau Capbern-Gasqueton.

No statement has been sent out to Bordeaux négociants who receive allocations of Calon Ségur – a sign that the sale was intended to be kept out of the public eye.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux, and Adam Lechmere

The Merlot harvest in Pauillac and St Estephe in Bordeaux has begun several days early due to hail damage.

Hail damage at Cos d’Estournel

Teams of pickers are in the vineyards now at Château Lafite, Phelan-Segur and Cos d’Estournel, and elsewhere in Pauillac and St Estephe, as vignerons have taken the decision to harvest grapes damaged by the hailstorms that swept the region on 1 September.

Cos d’Estournel suffered extensive damage with vines being entirely stripped of their leaves in some cases.

Managing director Jean-Guillaume Prats told Decanter.com this would be the earliest harvest for over 100 years.

Starting yesterday, on 5 September, he said, sooner than the planned date of 8/9 September ‘will be the earliest harvest at Cos since 1893’.

He added, ‘We are “lucky” that this vintage is [already] extremely early so the damage in terms of phenolic ripeness for the grapes should be very minor. It is too early to say what will be the loss in volume.’

At Phelan-Segur the Merlot harvest also began on 5 September. Managing director Veronique Dausse told Decanter.com up to 25% of the grapes had been damaged, almost all of them Merlot.

Weather conditions are ideal for harvest, she said. ‘After days of 28 degrees and 90% humidity last week it rained at the weekend, and now it is warm but windy and the grapes are now dry. Quality is much better than we expected.’

The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest is expected to start in about 12 days time.

Written by Adam Lechmere

Denise Capbern-Gasqueton, long-time owner of Chateau Calon Segur in Saint Estèphe, has died aged 87.

Born in 1924, Madame Gasqueton – as she was invariably known – was born Denise Agostini until her marriage to Philippe Gasqueton, whose family had owned Calon Ségur since 1894.

Following Philippe’s death in September 1995, she took over the running of the estate. Like her husband 15 years before her, Madame Gasqueton died peacefully in her sleep, on the eve of harvest.

Known for her intensely private, sometimes irascible, nature – she was renowned for turning away journalists and buyers, whatever their status – she was also an attentive owner, and her intelligence and expertise were legendary in the region.

She was proud of making an old-style, traditional Médoc wine with elegance and finesse.

‘Calon Ségur has been the first chateau we visit during the en primeurs every year for the past ten years,’ Simon Staples at Berry Bros told Decanter.com.

‘We love the simplicity of the set-up – one huge room, one large bottle, Madame Gasqueton always on hand to answer all questions personally, but without any room for nonsense. She has given the wine enormous class and charisma since she took over. She will be missed.

The family also own Chateau Capbern Gasqueton, a Cru Bourgeois estate also in Saint Estèphe. Madame Gasqueton’s daughter Hélène, and her grand-daughter Isabelle, will continue to run both properties.

The funeral was held at the local church in Saint Estèphe this morning, Tuesday 6 September.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

圣爱斯泰夫

仅有梅多克62个列级酒庄其中的五个，圣爱斯泰夫也许看起来不够引人注目。但它的风格的多样性及其特有的强健的坚实感来自于更多粘土的土壤，这让此产区的葡萄酒成为一个稳妥的选择。对于2010年份来说，这个产区正变得更可靠。美乐的种植量有所增加，然而当他们的赤霞珠成熟度至臻完美，赤霞珠才是混酿中的主导。天然的丰满度导致了葡萄酒的发展度比波亚克的更早熟，但他们的结构给予他们平等的陈年潜力。

5星 *****

Ch Calon-Ségur（三级酒庄） 19分

极好的黑色水果表达，惊人的柔软度，多汁的味道，非常好的和谐，纯粹，回味悠长。是今年最好的圣爱斯泰夫。适饮期2020–50

Ch Cos d’Estournel （二级酒庄） 19分

异国烟叶香气，极好的成熟果香以及明显的新鲜紫罗兰香气，比09年更有约束感以及更经典，一款伟大的葡萄酒。适饮期2018–40

4星****

Ch Montrose（二级酒庄） 18分

优雅，保留的相当的好的水果香气，目前较为收敛，会有回味长度的增加，但不如2009年让人兴奋。适饮期2020–35

Ch Lafon-Rochet（二级酒庄）17.5分

非常出色的成熟赤霞珠果香，可口多汁但有紧实的味道，完美的单宁造就了这款石破天惊的好酒，适合中以及长期贮藏。适饮期2017–30

Ch Capbern-Gasqueton 17分

良好的黑加仑香气，结构顺滑饱满，一款光滑、上等的葡萄酒。适饮期2016–26

Ch Cos Labory（五级酒庄）17分

极好的表现出成熟的果香，带一点烟熏气息，不错的回味，比这个酒堡别的酒有更多的新鲜度和深度，具备良好的陈年潜力。适饮期2017–30

Ch de Pez 17分

非常好的果香深度，是这个顶级圣爱斯泰夫产区的极好等级，曾在70年代表现相当出色，现在再现辉煌。适饮期2018–30

Ch Ormes de Pez 17分

非常完美的成熟水果的香味浓缩，相当多的醇厚和深度，将会是令人印象深刻的一款酒。适饮期2016–28

Ch Phélan-Ségur 17分

饱满，成熟，近乎皮革味的果香，非常新鲜，以及让人愉悦的潜在复杂度，总是带有一丝的香料优雅。适饮期。2017–26

Les Pagodes de Cos（副牌）17分

浓郁的烟熏味和黑加仑气息，香料以及与其相平衡的果香，具有令人印象深刻的复杂性。适饮期2014–22

Ch Haut-Marbuzet 16.5分

浓郁的烟熏味和黑加仑气息，成熟有深度的香气，非常好的深度，具有很好的潜力。2014–20

Ch Tronquoy-Lalande 16.5分

浓郁的赤霞珠果实风味，鲜美多汁的感觉恰到好处，一抹坚实成熟的单宁，一款成功的酒。适饮期2016–25

3星***

Ch Andron Blanquet 16分

丰厚的果香深度，一款强健而优雅的圣爱斯泰夫。适饮期2015–20

Ch Clauzet（中级酒庄）16分

精致的黑加仑芳香，优雅的回味，优秀的平衡，有贮藏潜力。一款非常好的葡萄酒。适饮期2014–20

Ch Laffitte-Carcasset（中级酒庄）16分

相当饱满的红色水果香气，很好的橡木香，是一款光滑的葡萄酒，具有好的陈年潜力。适饮期2014–20

Ch Le Boscq（中级酒庄）16分

很好的提纯，相当富有生气的黑加仑果香，新鲜，有深度，有变得越来越复杂的潜力。适饮期2014–18

Ch Le Crock（中级酒庄）16分

很好的提纯，成熟的果香，活跃而回味悠长，具有好的陈年前景。适饮期2014–20

Ch Lilian-Ladouys（中级酒庄）16分

非常优秀的烟熏味和黑加仑气息，相当多的丰满结实的果香，优秀的中等陈年潜力。适饮期2014–20

Ch Petit Bocq（中级酒庄）16分

具有爆发力的果香，天然的单宁带来优质饱满的口感，具有好的陈年潜力。适饮期2015–24

Ch Ségur de Cabanac（中级酒庄）16分

优质提纯的芳香花香般的红色水果香气，悠长的回味。是一款庄重的酒。适饮期2014–20

Ch Sérilhan（中级酒庄）16分

闻起来有烟熏味和浓郁的香气，优秀文雅的圣爱斯泰夫成熟度，良好的陈年潜力。适饮期2014–20

Ch Tour des Termes（中级酒庄）16分

很好地表达出黑加仑果香，一款优雅的圣爱斯泰夫，经典的回味和深度。适饮期2015–20

La Dame de Montrose（副牌）16分

饱满，烟熏的黑加仑果香，很好的中等甜度和清爽感，比预期少一点深度。适饮期2015–20

Marquis de Calon（副牌）16分

愉悦的深度，很精准的黑加仑果香，一点烟熏气息，以优雅、和谐以及好的回味作为提升。适饮期2014–18

Ch de Côme 15.5分

吸引人的提纯果味，广大而开放的风格。适饮期2014–18

Ch La Commanderie（中级酒庄）15.5分

果味具有很好的深度，一款具有良好泥土气息的圣爱斯泰夫。适饮期2014–18

Ch Le Haye（中级酒庄）15.5分

具有吸引力的花香和红色水果香气，优秀的酒香深度，典型的圣爱斯泰夫。适饮期2014–18

Tronquoy de Ste-Anne（副牌）15.5分

精美的黑加仑果香，良好的多叶芳香，光滑而优雅。适饮期2014–18

3星(15和14.5分) ***

Ch Beau-Site（中级酒庄）15分

Ch Tour de Pez（中级酒庄）15分

Written by Steven Spurrier 撰写

Chateau Petit Bocq in Saint Estephe is the first wine of the Bordeaux 2009 campaign to be released, just under 18% up from its 2008 price.

The 18ha property, owned by Gaëton Lagneaux, is being offered at an ex-negociant price of €10.50, up from €8.90 last year.

‘Around one-third of the estate (approximately 3,000 cases from a total production of 10,000) will be allocated to wine merchants, and the rest will be kept to sell direct.

Lagneux told decanter.com: ‘The decision to come out today was taken by my broker, but I always like to come out early in the campaign, and get things moving.

‘I have kept my price stable for a number of years, but it was getting increasingly difficult to make any margin at all.

‘I’m sure there will be plenty of chateaux who make my 15% rise seem more than reasonable!’.

Decanter’s scores and tasting notes from the Bordeaux 2009 en primeur tasting week can be found here.

Bordeaux 2009: All the coverage

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Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

Château Cos d’Estournel in St-Estèphe is a landmark in more than one way. The wines, too, are distinctive. A mix of elegance and power with a slightly exotic edge, they are among the best that can be found in Bordeaux today...

Owner Michel Reybier

Area St-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France. 91 hectares

Varieties Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 40%

Average age of vines 35 years old on the average

Soils Thin layers of gravely soil for the Cabernet Sauvignon vines and limestone for Merlot vines.

Average production 200,000 and 380,000 bottles depending on the vintage

Profile

Château Cos d’Estournel in St-Estèphe is a landmark in more than one way. The extraordinary pagoda-like edifice, complete with gargoyles and carved door from a palace in Zanzibar, makes a striking statement in the bleak Médocain landscape. The wines, too, are distinctive. A mix of elegance and power with a slightly exotic edge, they are among the best that can be found in Bordeaux today.

Cos in the old Gascon tongue means ‘hill of pebbles’ and that is where the vines are planted. About 20m above the marshy lowland on the opposite side of the tiny Jalle de Breuil (stream) from Château Lafite Rothschild, a mound of quaternary gravel atop a limestone bedrock provides the ideal terroir for the 91ha (hectare) vineyard. The aspect is south, southeast facing, the free-draining gravel ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon (60%); on the slopes where the clay is more prominent, Merlot (40%) can be readily adapted.

View all of Decanter’s Château Cos d’Estournel tasting notes

Louis Gaspard d’Estournel may have been ignorant of the physical properties of the land but he realised good wines could be made from it. From 1811 he vinified grapes from the few vines he had inherited at Cos separately from other parcels he owned, and started to expand the vineyard. Cos was his work and vision, but he died in 1853, two years before his achievements were crowned with second growth status in the 1855 classification.

In the interim he more than contributed to the reputation of the wine. Quality was one of his mantras, and another reason for Cos’ rapid rise in estime. His fascination with India led to the sale of the wine on the subcontinent, the construction of the pagoda-like cellars and the presentation of a mature wine labelled ‘Retour des Indes’ (Returned from India) for barrels of Cos that made the round trip by boat to and from Bombay. His investments eventually led to crippling debts and he was forced to sell Cos to London bankers Martyns in 1852.

Repeated sale and purchase followed with the Basque Errazu family acquiring the property in 1869, the Charmolües, owners of Château Montrose, in 1889 and Fernand Ginestet in 1917. Ginestet’s grandson, Bruno Prats, managed the estate from 1970 until it was sold to the Merlaut family and Argentinian investors in 1998. Two years later it was acquired by the present owner, French food manufacturer Michel Reybier.

The 28 years of astute management under the tutelage of Bruno Prats has been crucial to the continuing success of Château Cos d’Estournel. Prats, a qualified agronomist, realised early on that investment in the vineyard held the key to the quality of the wine. The 1970s were difficult financially but he set in motion a long-term programme of restructure. This included planting the right grape variety, clone and rootstock in the right place, replacing missing vines, correcting the nutritional balance of the soil, and forming and educating a team of vignerons to handle tasks such as pruning and trellising in a precise way. ‘My father built the foundations for the continuing success of Cos,’ says Jean-Guillaume Prats, manager of the estate since 1998.

The quality of the grapes is quickly evident when tasting the wines. The colour is always deep, the nose and palate charged with fruit but elegantly displayed with a fine, spicy fragrance. The high percentage of Merlot provides a rich, fleshy texture, but there’s also plenty of Cabernet nuance. The tannins are powerful but ripe and increasingly refined, providing plenty of ageing potential. The seductive nature of Cos makes it an atypical St-Estèphe, with perhaps a glimmer of Pauillac also in its bearing.

Work in the vineyards has continued under the direction of Jean-Guillaume Prats with yields being essentially cut. ‘We’ve experimented in some of the best parcels with yields of 25, 40, 45 and 55 hl/ha and found that 40–45hl/ha provides the most satifactory results.’ Cos now produces a yearly average of 240,000 bottles instead of the previous 360,000. Added to this are 100,000 bottles of the second wine, Les Pagodes de Cos.

Jean-Guillaume Prats continues to fine tune the machine his father built but in his own way. He has formed a new team of oenologist, cellar master and vineyard manager and is not shy of taking inspiration from the Right Bank. ‘Quality in Bordeaux over the last 10 years has been led by producers like Hubert de Boüard, Jean-Luc Thunevin, Alain Vauthier and Stephan von Neipperg,’ he says.

Yields are perhaps one reflection of this but there has also been change in the cellars. The Merlot now has a cold pre-fermentation maceration, post-fermentation maceration has been extended, and – very much in tune with certain Right Bank producers – the wine is aged on lees from the moment it goes into barrel until the July after the harvest, without any racking.

The two largest projects Prats has in hand, though, are the construction of new cellars, and experimentation with oak treatment. Plans for the cellars are well under way, with a projected completion date of the 2005 harvest. The new building will contain not only a fermenting room but also barrel cellars and reception bay for the harvest, while Louis d’Estournel’s pagoda will remain as a monument to the past.

The question of procurement and use of new oak barrels needs further thought. In the 1980s Bruno Prats used a heavy toast and about 50% new oak. It was the style of the time. In the 1990s the toasting was more refined but the percentage of new oak increased with vintages like 1990 and 1995 taking nearly 100%. Marked at the time, the oak is now perfectly integrated. Recent vintages have varied from 80% for the 2001 to 60% for the 2000. ‘I’m frustrated because I know we can make a better choice with regard to cooperage and the percentage of new oak, but I just haven’t had time to truly work on the problem yet,’ explains Prats.

But these are just the fine details, for the essential quality of Cos resides in the terroir and vineyard. These are majestic wines made from high-quality fruit, as Louis d’Estournel realised a long time ago.

James Lawther is a contributing editor to Decanter.

Springtime and an alley of pink roses at the Château Montrose estate rekindles the myth surrounding the name of this Saint-Estèphe second growth. The legend is simple and, perhaps to the chagrin of the Dukes of Montrose, includes no Scottish forebears. Prior to the first vine plantings in 1815 the area was largely scrubland covered with gorse, broom and heather. When the heather flowered it gave a noticeable pink tint to the hills which was visible from a distance, in particular from the boats on the Gironde estuary – hence the local reference to ‘mont rose’. The story is unconfirmed but provides an attractive and plausible fable for one of the Médoc’s most esteemed crus.

History

The history of Montrose is otherwise relatively short and concise compared to that of many of the classed growths. In 1778 Nicolas Marie Alexandre Ségur, having spent much of the family fortune, was obliged by act of the Bordeaux parlement to sell the estate of Calon-Ségur, including what is now Château Montrose, to Etienne Théodore Dumoulin. Thirty-seven years later his son, also Etienne Théodore, realising the potential of an area of gravelly scrub to the south of the Calon estate known as ‘La Lande de l’Escargeon’, started clearing the land and planting vines. By 1825 five to six hectares (ha) had been planted, a small château and cellars built, and the name Montrose clearly registered in the first official survey of Saint-Estèphe.The year before Etienne Théodore had sold the bulk of the Calon estate to Firmin de Lestapis retaining sufficient land to continue the expansion of Montrose. By 1832 there were 31ha under vine and the wines had begun to make a name on the Bordeaux market. The 1855 classification later confirmed the market standing of Montrose, judging the property a second growth. By this time the estate constituted some 96ha, of which 50 were under vine, producing a yearly volume of 100–150 tonneaux (10–15,000 cases) of wine.

In 1861 Etienne Théodore Dumoulin died leaving the property to his heirs. They in turn sold the estate to Mathieu Dollfus in 1866. Dollfus instigated a programme of modernisation, erecting a number of new buildings including houses for the estate workers. Much of this small ‘village’ is still intact today. The expansion of the vineyard continued and by 1880 the present surface area of 68ha under vine had almost been attained. The onslaught of phylloxera that followed was contained, first by soaking the ground with water via a system of iron pipes and then, at a later date, by grafting onto American rootstock.

The death of Mathieu Dollfus in 1887 led to the sale of Montrose, and in 1889 the property was acquired by Jean-Jules Hostein. A few years later in 1896 the estate again changed hands, now purchased by Hostein’s son-in-law, Louis Victor Charmolüe, also owner of Cos d’Estournel and Pomys, and later mayor of Saint-Estèphe. Since then the property has remained in the hands of the Charmolüe family. Since 1960 it has been owned and managed by Jean-Louis Charmolüe, a quiet spoken man with a degree in agricultural science from Toulouse, and the air of a gentleman farmer. From 1990 a régisseur has been employed to ease the workload and provide a permanent presence at the property. The continuity of family ownership, and the commitment of the various proprietors, has been one of the strengths of Montrose over the years.

The terroir

The other undeniable asset has been the terroir. Situated on a gravel knoll some 800 metres from the estuary the vineyard has an identical profile to that of Château Latour and the grand clos of Château Léoville Las Cases.The vines, which form a single contiguous block surrounding the château and cellars, benefit from a southeasterly aspect, the north-south position of the rows providing day-long exposure to the sun. The gentle slope offers good drainage, and the proximity of the Gironde adds a mesoclimate that helps protect against frost, assuages the summer heat and generally assists in the ripening cycle.

The gravel is deep and formed of large pebbles laced with ferrous sand, above a marly clay. All of this enhances the tannin element in the wines. ‘It is an excellent site for Cabernet Sauvignon,’says Professor Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon, the long-time consultant oenologist at the estate.Cabernet Sauvignon in fact represents 65% of the plantings and constitutes over 70% of the blend in certain vintages. The balance is provided by 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and a fraction of Petit Verdot. Like Latour, Montrose has remained true to tradition producing wines that are deeply coloured, firm, powerful and austere in youth but with an amazing potential for ageing. A 1929, tasted some years ago in Paris, had all the freshness and fruit of a wine of 20 rather than 60 years of age. Accusations that this style was knowingly softened in the 1970s and early 1980s are unfounded. ‘There was no deliberate ploy to change the style, but the wines were lighter due to the succession of difficult vintages (1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980), the higher percentage of grapes from recent plantings and a problem we had with grape moth in 1983,’ explains Jean-Louis Charmolüe. Since 1986, the solid Montrose style has been back on song, with an added edge of ripeness from the later harvesting.

Vine density stands at 9,000 vines/ha, the average age of the vines is 30 years, the land is ploughed and the method of pruning remains the classic double guyot, but with a slightly raised trellis. Chemical treatments are used for oïdium, mildew and botrytis. Yields over the last 10 years have been more severely controlled. ‘The ideal at Montrose is 45hl/ha whereas at Château Lynch-Bages, where I previously worked, it is possible to make a great wine with 60hl/ha,’ says Philippe de Laguarigue, régisseur since 1998. In July and August grape bunches in the parcels of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and the more vigorous Cabernet Sauvignon are thinned; just before the harvest some of the leaf cover is removed. Since 1973 the harvest has been carried out by a team of Spanish pickers who hail from a village near Seville.

In the cellars the grapes are destemmed and vinified in a mix of wooden, concrete and epoxy-lined steel vats. A saignée for each tank is now almost systematic, the juice then vinified at a temperature that never exceeds 32˚C, with regular pumping over and a little délestage. In all, the vatting time extends over a period of up to three weeks. Work practices, however, are set for a shake up this year with the inauguration of a brand new, spacious, FF16 million (£1.4m) cellar which is presently under construction, including 36 stainless steel tanks with a computerised system of temperature control.Once the malolactic fermentation has been completed the wine is run off into oak barrels, 55% of which are renewed yearly. Selection for the grand vin takes place in the early part of the following year and has become stricter. Wines eliminated from Château Montrose go into either the second wine, La Dame de Montrose, originally introduced in 1984 and one of the best second labels in the Médoc, or are sold as generic Saint-Estèphe. Château Montrose usually includes six to seven percent of the press wine and is aged for up to 19 months in a capacious first-year cellar Jean-Louis Charmolüe constructed in 1983, then below ground in a second-year cellar built in 1875. During this period the wine is traditionally racked and fined with egg whites, but not filtered prior to bottling. Production now stands at around 16,000 cases for Château Montrose and 12–13,000 cases for La Dame de Montrose.

A tasting of recent vintages confirms the style and consistency of Montrose. Can anymore improvements be made? ‘There’s still lots to be done in the vineyard’ says Philippe de Laguarigue. Bruno Lemoine, the former régisseur, now directeur général at Margaux’s second growth, Château Lascombes, believes it is a question of continuous fine-tuning: ‘When you already have a cut diamond all that is required is the polish.’

Château Montrose: profile and top wines