Château Montlabert is one of the oldest wine estates in Saint-Émilion, combining more than 450 years of history with one of the region's most modern wineries. Following major investment over the past two decades, the estate has become a benchmark for precision winemaking while remaining deeply rooted in the traditions of the Right Bank.
The history
Winemaking at Château Montlabert dates back to 1575, making it one of the historic estates of Saint-Émilion. During the 18th century, an elegant Chartreuse, the traditional manor house typical of southwest France, was built at the heart of the property and still overlooks the vineyard today.
A new chapter began in 2008, when the estate was acquired by Castel. Extensive renovation work transformed both the vineyard and winery, including the construction of a spectacular gravity-flow cellar completed in 2019 after only 18 months of work. These investments were rewarded in 2022, when Château Montlabert was promoted to Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé.
In the vineyard
The vineyard covers 13 hectares in a single continuous block, with around 10 hectares classified as Grand Cru Classé. It is planted with 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. Merlot is mainly grown on clay-rich soils, where it develops generous fruit, richness and silky tannins, while cabernet franc is planted on lighter, sandier soils that bring freshness, floral aromas and structure to the blend.
The average vine age is around 35 years, while newer parcels are planted at a density of 7 500 vines per hectare, encouraging competition between vines and naturally limiting yields.
Sustainability plays an important role throughout the vineyard. Cover crops such as mustard and barley improve soil structure, reduce erosion and encourage biodiversity. The estate also maintains several beehives, helping to support pollinators while producing its own honey.
Harvesting is carried out entirely by hand by a team of around 50 pickers. The grapes are transported in small 10 kg crates to avoid crushing and premature oxidation before reaching the winery. To ensure only the highest-quality fruit is vinified, every bunch passes through three successive sorting stages: first in the vineyard, then on a sorting table, and finally using an optical sorting machine.
Winemaking
One of Château Montlabert's most distinctive features is its use of two different vat designs, each chosen according to the style of wine desired.
The traditional truncated-cone (tronconic) concrete vats are naturally porous, allowing gentle oxygen exchange during fermentation. Their narrowing shape compresses the cap of grape skins, encouraging greater extraction of colour, tannins and flavour. This makes them particularly well suited to cabernet franc and older merlot vines, producing wines with greater structure and concentration.
Alongside these are inverted tronconic stainless-steel vats, which provide virtually no oxygen exchange. Their wider upper section allows for a broader cap and a gentler extraction, preserving fruit purity and producing softer, more approachable tannins. These vats are mainly used for younger merlot parcels destined to express freshness and elegance.
This parcel-by-parcel approach allows the winemaking team to tailor extraction to each grape variety and vineyard block, maximising the expression of the estate's terroir.
Maturation
The barrel cellar is located six metres underground, where naturally stable temperature and humidity provide ideal ageing conditions. The elegant lighting was designed to resemble the curved staves of an oak barrel, creating one of the estate's most striking architectural features.
The Grand Vin is matured for approximately 16 months in French oak barrels, with 50% new oak and 50% one-year-old barrels, balancing complexity with respect for the fruit.
The estate also carries out small-scale ageing trials in clay amphorae, exploring alternative ageing methods that preserve freshness and purity while adding another dimension to the wine.
The wines
Château Montlabert 2019 is a blend of 75% merlot and 25% cabernet franc, aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, half of which are new. It displays aromas of black cherry, blackberry, cassis, coffee and leather, supported by polished tannins, remarkable freshness and a long, elegant finish.
La Croix de Montlabert 2020, the estate's second wine, is made from 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. Produced using gentler extraction and shorter barrel ageing, it offers a fresher, more approachable style with notes of mint, green plum, red berries and delicate minerality, making it enjoyable in its youth while retaining the signature elegance of Château Montlabert.
