Tasting 10 years of Château Clarke: A Médoc success story

For years, when you asked the way to the Rothschild estate in Pauillac, locals would automatically send you to Mouton, not Lafite, such was the power that Baron Philippe de Rothschild had on the area. He lived at the Château for much of his life, and so became ‘the’ Rothschild in Bordeaux.

If that was tough for Lafite to swallow for a while, imagine being the third branch of the Rothschild family at Château Clarke, based just a few miles away from Mouton and Lafite, but in Listrac-Médoc rather than Pauillac.

Scroll down for Jane Anson’s Château Clarke vertical tasting notes and scores

This is an appellation that has 733 hectares (ha) of vines planted, but in 2018 just 424ha were declared under the AOC name.

The rest were used for wines labelled under AOC Haut-Médoc, a choice that all châteaux in the region can make and one that neatly demonstrates the lack of allure to AOC Listrac as a sales tool.

Château Clarke was the first Rothschild family purchase in Bordeaux since Baron James bought Lafite in 1868.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild bought Clarke in 1973, with Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild in charge since 1998. As it happens, this is the wealthiest branch of the family due to the Edmond de Rothschild banking group, not to mention their shareholding in Lafite.

Investment in Clarke has been steadily increasing, with a clear boost in recent years thanks to a €20 million injection that will see new cellars, vats, storage and logistics buildings by 2022.

To my mind Clarke is now one of the real success stories of the Médoc, as this vertical showed, and is building a head of steam in terms of its succulent fruit character and consistency. But it still needs to work out how to break through the ceiling imposed by perceptions of the Listrac appellation.

One way that it might do so is by seeing Clarke as part of the larger story of the family.

Much as Phélan Ségur did its previous owner, the restaurant and hotel-owning Gardinier family, Clarke is becoming part of a larger gourmet empire.

Alongside a successful partnership with Vega Silicia in Rioja, and an ownership share of Barons de Rothschild Champagne, Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild have also developed a wider lifestyle brand under Edmond de Rothschild Heritage.

This comprises a dairy farm that produces a Brie de Meaux Fermier cheese – the only Brie to have an AOC distinction – along with hotels and restaurants in Megève, in the Haut-Savoie region, that include the Four Seasons.

They are also branching out at Clarke itself, with three hectares of white grapes that produce Le Merle Blanc. This is a nod back to the white wine heritage of Listrac Médoc, which boasted a big production of the style in the early 20th century.

The family has also shown that it is willing to break out of the accepted norms for Listrac.

When the family first arrived in 1973, the clay-limestone soils of Clarke were planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, largely because that was fashionable in the Médoc, and still is.

Edmond de Rothschild carried out a soil study that showed the terroir was more suited to Merlot, and they began a huge replanting programme. Now, the vineyards are planted to 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, meaning the oldest Merlots are now also approaching their half-century.

The past few years have seen a step-change in this wine.

For me, the 2018 vintage is the finest that the team has yet produced. It’s no surprise perhaps that this was a super ripe year, and so the cooler Listrac soils gave the grapes a better chance to deliver fully ripe flavours.

Across the business, the Covid-19 crisis has inevitable caused some disruption more recently.

Cheese sales are inevitably centred around a restaurant industry that has ground to a halt – although part of the production has been distributed free of charge to health care workers.

The hotels have also been closed, with only one of the three due to open again this summer. The rest won’t reopen until December.

But the Château Clarke investments are continuing as planned, and the past few months may even help to further establish Clarke as separate to the wider ecosystem of Listrac.

The team is stepping up its already-established direct sales network through partnerships in each market, and also increasing direct-to-consumer sales through ‘social networks and physical shops’.

The reworking of Château Clarke continues.

Fact file: Château Clarke

Area: 58 hectares (55ha red, 3ha white).

Plantings: 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ownership: Edmond de Rothschild Heritage since 1973, with Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild owners since 1997.

Management: Borie Breau is general manager, Fabrice Darmaillacq is technical director. Eric Boissenot is consultant.

Also part of the group: Château Malmaison (Moulis-en-Médoc), Château Odilon (Haut-Médoc), Château des Laurets Baron (Puisseguin St-Emilion), Rupert & Rothschild (South Africa), Rimapere (New Zealand), Macan (Spain), Flechas de los Andes (Argentina).

See Jane Anson’s Château Clarke vertical tasting notes and scores

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