The Médoc seems to have become, in the course of what I noticed again this week while crisscrossing the territory, a concentration of know-how, technical innovations, but also an anthill of ideas already applied in order to counter the effects of a climatic cata now clearly visible on the ground. A veritable laboratory in step with the times, unthinkable even half a century ago, when wine tourism – to name only this activity – was totally absent there.
Think of Château Pontet-Canet, in Pauillac, which in 2010 converted all of its 81 hectares of vineyard to organic and biodynamic agriculture, where 67 deep wells 110 meters deep supply the entire estate with clean energy and where nine horses lines are active in a natural setting where an astonishing biodiversity reigns.
A conversion to organic also envisaged by its immediate neighbour, the great Lafite Rothschild, where the brilliant technical director Éric Kohler is active. But there is more to Médoc. Let’s explore a few other properties.
Ludon, Haut-Medoc. It was Pierre Cazeneuve, winegrower by trade, who received me at Château Paloumey, with its 37 hectares of vines where agroforestry — like Château Anthonic, in Moulis — takes part, at the rate of forty trees per hectare, to the interactions between mycorrhizae making the bridge in the basement on the plant level. It’s like being in the Margaux appellation (the house owns 2 hectares there at Château La Bessane) so much the finesse and the impression of tactile freshness percolate here in the wines. The second wine, Ailes de Paloumey, with dominant Merlot, offers clarity, roundness and tension, but also precision. A delight !
Finally, another property, in Moulis this time, on clay-limestone soil which “looks” at the famous Château Clarke, Château La Garricq delivered, for its part, in the modest 2012 vintage, a remarkable sap behind its fine, still tight, mellow tannins. , but also with a nice relief.
Chateau Citran. The domain’s fairy is called Alice Merlaut. In the middle of her peacocks, she watches over this seigniory which had a gable on vines from the 13th century.e century. More than a hundred hectares with, in terms of blending, equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, aged for a third in new barrels. We are once again approaching here the spirit of a Margaux (barely further south) due to the subtlety and finesse of the whole, at a very affordable price (less than $40). A reliable cru bourgeois.
Chateau Meyer. Going organic since 2011, this cru bourgeois (on 18 hectares), as well as its alter ego Gallen de Château Meyre (1.40 hectare) – in the Margaux appellation, that one – are one of those wines managed with just as much enthusiasm than with a sense of overcoming by a rigorous team, always in questioning, and this despite a very frost-prone context in terms of the vineyard. The assembly is practiced there before the barreling with the result of reds of beautiful amplitude, structured, with the fruity net, brilliant and precise. Comfortable rooms await passing visitors who wish to pursue their dreams here on the first floor of the castle. An underrated area to watch.
Listrac-Medoc. The welcome was in the early hours of the morning with a glass of Château Fourcas Hostens Blanc 2020 in hand, a gem. These people already know how to receive! A demonstration which, suddenly, confirms that the 2 hectares of Sémillons and Sauvignon Blancs and Gris, fermented in barrels and in amphora, are proving very relevant in the heart of the Médoc.
Fourcas Hostens, there are 40 hectares in production (certified organic since 2020) nestled on “cold” clay limestone (frost zone, here) with a meticulous parcel approach to the fields as well as to the cellar, where nothing is spared to highlight the personality of the cabernets, merlots and small verdots. The preparation is impeccable, very classic even, structured without being devoid of charm, whether for the first wine such as the Grande Demoiselle (2) or the cuvée les Cèdres.
With a skilfully arranged winery and such an efficient approach to the vineyard, it is difficult for consultant oenologist Éric Boissenot to fall short of his own standards!
The walk ends in the very north, in Médoc, where an anthology of fine estates certainly deliver wines that are less profound than those located further south, in Haut-Médoc, but whose accessibility in the mouth (but also in terms of price requested) has no equivalent here in Bordeaux. Look for the Laujac, La Tour de By, Potensac, Les Grands Chênes, Tour Haut-Caussan and Saint-Christoly castles, among others.