Château Montlabert

Château Montlabert is a historic vineyard in Saint-Émilion, known for its rich architecture and excellent wines. The estate combines tradition with modern methods to create high-quality wines. Let’s explore its story, vineyard, and wine production.

The history

• Winemaking began here in 1575
• a Chartreuse (a historic-style home) was built in the 18th century
• Castel bought it in 2008, renovated the estate, with a major cellar project achieved in 2019 in only 1.5 year, and helped it achieve Grand Cru Classé status in 2022

In the vineyard

• Size: 13 hectares in one plot, with 10 hectares producing Grand Cru Classé wines
• Grapes: 80% merlot, often planted on clay-rich soils. 20% cabernet franc, often planted on sandy-rich soils
• Vines: Density of 7 500 vines per hectare for newer plantings. Average age of the vineyard is 35 years
• Biodiversity: Mustard and barley are grown between vines to improve soil life and stability. Beehives produce honey and support biodiversity
• Harvesting: Grapes are 100% hand harvested by a team of 50 people. Small crates (10 kg) are used to preserve the grapes, avoiding crushing and oxidation. Grapes go through three sorting steps to ensure only the best are used (in the vineyard, on a sorting table and with optical sorting)

Winemaking

• Fermentation tanks: Tronconic vats (see picture below, on the right) are in concrete, being more porous to oxygenation, the shape means the cap is compressed at the top for more extraction, making it ideal for cabernet franc and old merlot. Inverted tronconic vats (on the left) are in stainless steel, so with minimal oxygen exchange, the shape means the cap is wider for gentler extraction, making it perfect for fruitier merlot.

Maturation

• The ageing cellar is located 6 meters underground with beautiful lights reminiscent of barrel staves
• The wine ages for 16 months in oak barrels: 50% in new barrels, 50% in barrels used for one year
• Some wine is aged in amphorae (clay jars) as experiment to explore different flavours

The wines

1. Château Montlabert 2019: 75% merlot, 25% cabernet franc. 16 months in French oak barrels with 50% being new. Flavours of black fruits, coffee, leather, and cassis, with smooth tannins and a long finish.

2. La Croix de Montlabert 2020: 80% merlot, 20% cabernet franc. Lower extraction and less time in barrels. Fresh flavours of mint, green plum, and light minerality.