Saint-Estèphe (wine region)

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Saint-Estèphe is a classified wine region in Bordeaux , France with a total of 1250 hectares . The commune of Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the four local appellations ; the other local appellations of the Médoc are Pauillac , Saint-Julien and Margaux .

Of the over fifty wineries in Saint-Estèphe, five are Grand Cru certified. These are Château Cos d'Estournel and Château Montrose , both 2 ième Grand Cru and located in the south near the border with the neighboring municipality of Pauillac , Château Calon-Ségur (3 ième Grand Cru), Château Lafon-Rochet (4 ième Grand Cru) and Château Cos Labory (5th ième Grand Cru).

The wines of Saint-Estèphe are generally found to be somewhat stronger, more acidic and more severe than the other wines from the Médoc peninsula; Even tiny, small climatic shifts of a few kilometers can be tasted in wine. Many wineries therefore bring more of the Merlot grapes , which ripen earlier, into their cuvées , which makes the wines rounder, more palatable and ready to drink earlier.

Geological conditions

Typical terroir type terrace 3

The strata of rock coming to the surface of the earth come from very different geological times . Geologically relevant for viticulture, the Médoc distinguishes five alluvial terraces , of which only three occur in Saint-Estèphe. There are also areas - especially in the east - where bedrock is exposed.

As in Graves , the predominant two-thirds is the approx. 650,000-year-old terraced rock layer made of coarse gravel and quartz pebbles and quartzite coated with sand and clay and in some areas with yellow loam. It is referred to as terrace 3 . This formation reaches a height of 26 meters. These areas can be found between Saint-Estèphe and Château Cos along the D2E3 and between Pez and Rochet along the D2, each in a north-south direction, but not in the valley heirs.

The formations referred to as terrace 4 , which are in front of terrace 3 on the banks of the Gironde and only reach a height of 12 to 16 meters , are much less common . They were created around 500,000 years ago and consist of gravel embedded in yellowish-brown clay. First and foremost, the Châteaux Meyney and Montrose, as well as some other businesses in the town of Saint-Estèphe, benefit from this excellent terroir .

Even closer to the shore are the 300,000-year-old terrace 5 -marked areas, which consist of a mixture of sand, gravel and clay. They start where the marshland of the estuary ends. A few meters below this level, the roots of the vines can reach the limestone known as "Calcaire de Saint-Estèphe". This limestone also appears in other parts of the municipality, especially in the eastern parts.

In the southwestern part of the cultivation area there are soils from the Oligocene , the base of which consists mainly of marl, limestone-gravel agglomerations, limestone and starfish fossils, the so-called "Calcaire à astéries" or a marl-clay mixture. These form the substrate for the alluvial surface of the l'Hôpital de Mignot hill, which rises up to 30 meters.

Wineries and wine villages

The southeast

Château Cos d'Estournel

As the cradle of viticulture in the Médoc, Château Meyney is a few kilometers south of Saint-Estèphe, a little above the Gironde. Wine is said to have been grown here as early as Roman times. However, it is known for sure that a priory existed here in the 13th century , the possessions of which included Calon (Château Calon-Ségur), which lived self-sufficiently on the cultivation of crops and wine. By the 17th century at the latest, the monks recognized the value of the land and specialized in viticulture. The Meyney winery is therefore considered a pioneer of the modern wine industry.

  • Château Meyney now has a size of 50 hectares. The grape variety is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. Second wine : Prieur de Meyney.

The Château Montrose, located a little south on a terrace, was originally heathland, was covered with roses (hence Montrose , "rose hill") and was originally called Lande de l'Escargeon ("snail heather "). Today the winery is often representative of the top wines from Saint-Estèphe, whose clay and sand soil conditions are ideally suited for viticulture.

  • Château Montrose has 72 hectares of vineyards, of which 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Second wine: Dame de Montrose.

The two settlements Haut-Marbuzet, located on a hilltop, and German im Tal together form a hamlet in which three châteaux produce wine:

  • Château Haut-Marbuzet (76 hectares; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc). Other wine brands: Château Mac-Carthy; Château Tour de Marbuzet; Château Chambert-Marbuzet
  • Château La Croix de Marbuzet (7.5 hectares; 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon). Private management. Second wine: Château Sigognac
  • Château Le Crock (33 hectares; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc). Second wine: Château la Croix Saint-Estèphe

A little south of Marbuzet-German, where the D2 from Pauillac first touches the Staint-Estèphe area, lies the hamlet of Cos. The two Grand Cru wineries Cos d'Estournel and Cos Labory are located here. The term “Cos”, which was still written Caux until the beginning of the 19th century , means “pile of stones” in Old Gasconical . A very pronounced channel, in which the Jalle du Breuil stream flows to the east, separates the famous vineyards of Château Lafite-Rothschild and Cos d'Estournel and naturally allows excellent drainage. The hamlet of Cos is shaped in a special way by the two Grand Cru châteaux: Cos d'Estournel with its exotic style, a kind of Indian temple, and Château Labory with its opulent facade and for several generations in the bourgeois possession of the Audoy family.

  • Château Cos d'Estournel 2 ième Grand Cru Classé (91 hectares; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot). Second wine: Les Pagodes de Cos.
  • Château Labory 5 ième Grand Cru Classé (18 hectares; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc). Second wine: Charme de Cos Labory.

South and west

It is only a little to the east, already belonging to the village of Blanquet

  • Château Lafon-Rochet winery. Roches is the word "rocks" that mainly cover the ground here. This yellow-ocher-colored rock adorns the walls of the castle and the walls of the cellars. Château Lafon-Rochet 4 ième Grand Cru Classé (45 hectares; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot). Second wine: Les Pélerins de Lafon-Rochet.

In the hamlet of Blanquet there are two wineries that belong to the Cru Bourgeois : In the east

  • Château Andron Blanquet with 16 hectares and a vine level of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc; Second wine: Château Saint-Roch. To the west of the village is the one from the 16th century
  • Château Lilian Ladouys with 47 hectares (52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc). The second wine is marketed under the names La Devise de Lilian and Château La Rousselière. Although the place is in the middle of terrace 3 , the name Blanquet characterizes the white color, which comes from both the limestone that is predominant here and the gravel from the former alluvial land. Many buildings in Saint Estèphe are made of this stone, such as the old train station, the church and the town hall.
Two La Rose Brana products at the 2012 Strasbourg Wine Fair
Wine boxes from Château Tour Saint-Fort at the 2012 Strasbourg Wine Fair

The domain to the west of Blanquet, L'Hôpital de Mignot, which happens to have the same name as a hospital near Versailles , is home to three wineries. The domain lies on the municipal boundary of Cissac . The origin of the name comes from a hospital of St. John in Jerusalem , who had built a chapel here to accommodate pilgrims and travelers. On a lithologically complex terroir, which consists of well-developed sandy loam-marl and clay from the Oligocene, massive limestone lies beneath it next to areas with marl and lime, clay limestone or sandy soil in a valley.

  • Château Coutelin-Merville (26 hectares, 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot)
  • Château Haut-Laborde (5.7 hectares, 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot)
  • Château Martin (28.5 hectares, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc)

Outside of the local situation, this is not classified as Cru Bourgois

  • Château Tour de Coutelin (1.75 ha).

Leyssac is centrally located within the wine-growing region. It is the second important district of the municipality and has even sometimes challenged Saint-Estèphes supremacy with its own school, shops, chapel and village festival. The village is on a gravelly soil with clay and lime. The chateaux of this large village as well as a cooperative winery are:

  • Château Clauzet (23 hectares, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc)
  • Château La Commanderie (16.5 hectares, 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • Château La Haye (11 hectares, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc)
  • Château La Rose Brana (32 hectares, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot), second wines: La Rose Saint-Estèphe, Château Rocher Coutelin
  • Château L'Argilus du Roi (5 hectares, 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc). Second wine: Gros Caillou
  • Marquis de Saint-Estèphe (41.5 hectares, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot). Second wine: Château Léo de Prades
  • Château Plantier Rose (9.5 hectares, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot)
  • Château Pomys (12 hectares, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc). A specialty is the Vin Rosé "Fleur de Poumeys"
  • Château Saint-Estèphe, SA Arnaud (13 hectares, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% each of Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and others)

The hamlet of Brame-Hame is located a little west of Leyssac. This designation comes from the gas conical and means "cry before hunger" and recalls the time when there was a great famine in the village. The winery has the same name,

  • Château Brame Hame (0.5 hectare, 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon). The hamlets of Laujac, Pradines, Troupian and Lavillotte, where heights of up to 60 meters are reached, follow even further west to the municipal boundary after Vertheuil . West-southwest of Laujac is a stiff with forest, which is excluded from the AOC area, although the soil conditions would make it suitable for viticulture. The soil here consists of lime (vineyards facing north) and a clay-sand mixture (south). In particular, the vineyards of Tour Saint-Fort, which face north, are on limestone soil. It is not uncommon for fossil finds to be made between the rows of vines :
  • Château Tour Saint-Fort (14.2 hectares, 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Petit Verdot). Second wine: Baron d'Estours
  • Château Remandine (3.6 hectares, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot)
  • Château Lavillotte (11 hectares, 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot), second wines: Domaine de la Ronceray, Château Le Meynieu
  • Château De Côme (7 hectares, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot)

The northwest

The winery is located to the north in the hamlet of Aillan

  • Château Serilhan (25 hectares, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc). Second wine: Château Moutinot and Château Real. There are four springs or wells in the village, three of which are fed to the lavoir . The district l'Hereteyre is between Aillan and Pez . While Aillan only has one château, there are four in Pez, whose wine grows in l'Hereteyre: Petit-Bocq, de Pez, Les Ormes de Pez and Tour de Pez. The word l'Hereteyre comes from the gas conical and means "iron stone", the word Pez comes from the Roman pes with the meaning foot. Gravelly soils and clayey limestone weathering sediments form the basis for viticulture in l'Hereteyre .
  • Petit-Bocq (18 hectares, 50% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot)
  • de Pez (38 hectares, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot)
  • Les Ormes de Pez (40 hectares, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot)
  • Tour de Pez (32 hectares, 52% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot); Second wines: Les Hauts de Pez, Tour de Pez and Les Hauts de Tour de Pez

The town of Saint-Corbian, north of Pez, is the only wine-growing town in Saint-Estèphe that is not directly connected to other vineyards, but is separated from them by the Chenal de Calon Canal. The strip to be found here with gravelly soils of sandy gravel and clayey limestone extends to Saint-Germain-d'Esteuil, which is over five kilometers away . The village with a good 1,000 inhabitants was probably already a Gallo-Roman site; nowadays, however, there is only one spring and one ancient dovecote . The wineries located here are:

  • Tour des Termes (25 hectares, 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot); Second wines: Préface de Tour des Termes, Château Saint-Corbian and Château Haut-Baradieu
  • Beau-Site Haut-Vignoble (19.5 hectares, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot)
  • Haut-Coteau (19.5 hectares, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc)
  • Beau-Site (25 hectares, 70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot); Second wine: Château Haut-Vignoble Seguin
  • (in the far north) Le Boscq (18 hectares, 60% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc); Second wine: Héritage de Le Boscq

The northeast

The area immediately west of the village of Saint-Estèphe is Calon , whose history goes back to an ancient settlement. Here is the seat of

  • Château Calon-Ségur (55 hectares, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot). The name Calon is derived from the gas-conical meaning "small wooden boats". It can be assumed that this name comes from the time when the great swamps were made navigable with the help of the canal that now runs immediately to the north. The noble house of Calon was an important fortress in the Middle Ages. As early as the 17th century, the wealthy von Ségur family cemented their name in the history of this wine with the nickname “the prince of the vines”. One of the pioneers was Alexandre de Ségur, who worked for Lafite and Latour , among others . The old building and its vineyards are protected by long stone walls and wavy, gravelly floors; an exceptional place near the village of Saint-Estèphe. Today the old place, which is said to have consisted of up to 50 houses, no longer exists. The church was demolished in the 18th century.

There are five districts around Saint-Estèphe: Garamey, Lacroix, Picard, Canteloup and Fontaugé:

  • Château Valrose (5 hectares, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot)
  • Château Domeyne (8.5 hectares, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot); Second wine: Château Saget
  • Château Haut-Beauséjour (20 hectares, 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 8% Malbec )
  • Château Picard (8.25 hectares, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot); Second wine: Family Reserve Saint-Estèphe
  • Château Bel-Air (5 hectares, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot); Second wine: Château Les hauts de Baradiou
  • Château Capbern Gasqueton (38 hectares, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Commune de Saint-Estèphe: "Carte des Châteaux de Saint-Estèphe", Syndicat Viticole de Saint-Estèphe, undated
  2. ↑ Photo of a rock face on the Weinfeld
  3. ↑ Commune de Saint-Estèphe: "Saint-Estèphe, une géologie complexe", Syndicat Viticole de Saint-Estèphe, undated
  4. ↑ a b Commune de Saint-Estèphe: "Saint-Estèphe, Beau village viticole, Cahier No. 3 ", Syndicat Viticole de Saint-Estèphe, undated, p. 4