Bordeaux Wine Guide: Region 6 - St Estèphe

[Matthias R WHT]

Our arrival at St Estèphe marks the end of our journey through the
four famous communes of the left bank of the Gironde. Travelling
through Pauillac, we come to St Estèphe by crossing the Jalle de
Breuil, one of the many drainage channels that have featured
prominently in this journey north of Bordeaux. The terroir changes
here, as although the best sites are located on the same gravel
croupes as those found further to the south, underfoot there is a lot
more clay, and thus the soils here are much more retentive of moisture
than those in the communes of Pauillac, St Julien or Margaux. Further
to the north, beyond St Estèphe and the Chenal de Calon, are the
supposedly lesser vineyards of the Médoc, sometimes referred to as the
Bas-Médoc in order to distinguish them from those of the Haut-Médoc. I
will tell more of this distinction in the next chapter of this guide,
where I deal with the vineyards of Médoc and Haut-Médoc, but here I
restrict myself purely to St Estèphe, the wines of which have a
distinctive character which may be directly correlated to the clay-
rich soils. They tend towards greater richness and substance than
those from a little further south, and the soils also confer a
particular advantage in hot, dry years as the vines are less exposed
to hydric stress than those vines grown in the more gravelly soils to
the south, which are less retentive of water.


St Estèphe - The Appellation

St Estèphe accounts for about 1200 hectares, and thus is not
significantly different in vineyard area to either Pauillac, which has
about 1100 hectares, or Margaux, which is a little larger with 1300
hectares. Nevertheless, St Estèphe certainly has a very different
profile. Unlike Pauillac and Margaux there is no Premier Grand Cru
Classé estate to lead the way, and indeed the number of classed growth
properties boasted by the commune is really very small. There are just
five in all, half of the number found in St Julien which is
considerably smaller at 900 hectares, and less than a third of that
possessed by Pauillac. Nevertheless, although the quantity, at this
level at least, may be low, the quality is not. Of these five estates,
at least two, if not three or four, turn out truly superlative wines.

Leading the way in the St Estèphe appellation are Montrose and Cos
d'Estournel, the latter frequently abbreviated by those familiar with
the estate to Cos. Although both are renowned for the quality of their
wines, this latter estate must surely also wine the award for the most
extravagant architecture in all Bordeaux. It is not that long since my
eyes first caught sight of the chateau in real life, and it is just as
striking in reality as it is in any picture. Sitting directly on the
main road through the town, the chateau has a distinctly Oriental feel
- although I admit I am no architectural savant - with pagodas perched
on top of a chateau built using golden sandstone, itself atypical for
the region. The building was erected under the direction of Louis
Gaspard d'Estournel, who was said to have been nicknamed the Maharajah
of St Estèphe, a moniker that reflected his taste for travel to exotic
climes, including India. Nevertheless the chateau, depicted on every
label, certainly seems to have its roots in a country even further to
the east.

Montrose, meanwhile, might at first consideration seem to have
Scottish roots, but this does not appear to be so; the derivation of
Montrose is uncertain, but it does not seem to be related to the
beautiful Scottish coastal town of the same name. The best explanation
of which I am aware is that mont-rose relates to the pink heather that
once covered this small croupe of gravel. The vineyard here is a
relatively recent creation, the gorse and heather having dominated the
landscape as recently as the 18th Century. It was not until the early
years of the 19th Century, when the estate was inherited by Etienne
Théodore Dumoulin, that vines were planted. His attention was drawn to
part of the estate, a plot of land to the south of the Calon vineyard
and adjacent to the Gironde, entitled La Lande de l'Escargeon, the
situation of which was such that it clearly had potential as a
vineyard. Dumoulin did not hang about; having cleared the heather and
scrub he established that the soil beneath was gravelly, and was
indeed eminently suited to the vine. By 1815 planting was underway,
and by 1820 he had expanded the vineyard and had also built Montrose's
rather bijou chateau. Only a few decades later, Montrose was ranked
alongside Cos in the 1855 classification of the Médoc.


St Estèphe - The Classifications
Notable Chateaux


Deuxièmes Crus, 1855

Ch. Cos d'Estournel
Ch. Montrose


Troisièmes Crus, 1855

Ch. Calon-Ségur


Quatrièmes Crus, 1855

Ch. Lafon Rochet

Cinquièmes Crus, 1855

Ch. Cos-Labory


Cru Bourgeois

Ch. Beau-Site
Ch. Haut-Marbuzet
Ch. Lilian Ladouys
Ch. Meyney
Ch. Les Ormes de Pez
Ch. de Pez
Ch. Phélan-Ségur



Although these two grand estates occupy prime position in the commune,
having both been ranked as deuxième cru in the 1855 classification,
these are by no means the only names of interest. One step further
down the 1855 ladder is Calon-Ségur, once part of the great and
expansive Ségur estate of the 17th and 18th Centuries, and although
the wines have under-perfomed in many vintages of the 20th Century
today it seems they are back on track, and they can indeed be
excellent. Just one rung down is Lafon-Rochet, which has been a very
reliable source of good quality wine ever since the property was
reinvigorated by the arrival of the Tesseron family, who have also
done much to bring Pontet-Canet in Pauillac back up to form. At the
lowest level, Cos Labory is one of those estates which could do
better, but a number of vintages in the opening years of the 21st
Century have been well received and this is certainly an estate worth
watching. And with the vineyards nestled between those of Cos
d'Estournel, Lafon-Rochet and, just across the Jalle du Breuil, those
of Lafite-Rothschild, it would seem that there is much unexploited
potential here.

One characteristic that sets St Estèphe apart from near-neighbours St
Julien and Pauillac is at the Cru Bourgeois level; St Estèphe is rich
in such properties, many of which are sources of very good wine, often
at a very good price. I expect everyone has their own favourite, and
for years Meyney would have been top of many lists, helped by a very
commendable wine in the 1989 vintage. Today the wines are still good,
but not quite so enthralling perhaps, and there are new competitors;
Phélan-Ségur is certainly worth investigating, as is Ormes de Pez,
Haut-Marbuzet should not be missed, and on occasion even Beau-Site can
turn out a good wine. This can be a happy hunting ground for buyers
looking for classically styled claret at a fair price.



- Wine Doctor.

[Matthias R WHT]