VINUM FINE WINES

Château Certan de May | L’Hospitalet de Gazin | Château La Fleur-Pétrus | Château Lafleur | Château La Grave à Pomerol
Château Latour à Pomerol | Château Magdelaine | Château Pibran | Château Puy Blanquet | Château Trotanoy

Château Certan de May
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

The 5-hectare vineyard of Certan de May is located in the North-East part of the famous plateau of Pomerol, lying next to Vieux Château Certan. The vineyard is planted to 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dense and rich, it is one of the more masculine Pomerols.

The château has been in the Barreau-Badar family since 1925, and the vineyard holdings are identical to those when the larger Certan estate was divided in the first half of the 19th Century. JP Moueix now bring this wine to market, and ongoing investment since Jean-Luc Barreau took control in the mid -70s has seen Certan de May’s quality soar.

L’Hospitalet de Gazin (Second Wine of Château Gazin)
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

Château Gazin has an enviable position nestled between Petrus and l’Evangile in Pomerol. The 26-hectare estate is planted with 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc; 17 hectares are on the clay plateau credited with giving rise to the very best wines of Pomerol, with the rest planted in sand and gravel.

A second wine, l’Hospitalet, was introduced at Château Gazin in 1986, when a stricter selection process, hand-picking and significant investment in the chai were all embraced under the current stewardship of Nicolas and Christophe de Baillencourt, whose family have owned the estate since 1917. At the same time, Jean-Pierre Moueix was brought in to consult on the wine-making and marketing and his firm have had the exclusive distribution rights since 1988.

Whilst dense and fleshy, with the mix of black and red fruit and minerality of the Grand Vin, l’Hospitalet has a softer, more approachable structure.

Château La Fleur-Pétrus
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

This great château is located on the plateau of Pomerol, lying on deep gravel next to its famous neighbours Château Lafleur and Château Petrus. It was acquired by Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1953.

In 1994 Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix acquired from Miss Marie Robin (also the owner at the time of Château Lafleur and Le Gay) a 4 hectare block belonging to Château Le Gay facing Château Lafleur. On this block stood an old but elegant house dating back to 1782 which in 1996 was completely restored and equipped with a new cellar and which has become the the new château worthy of the estate and the wine.

Château La Fleur-Pétrus’s deep gravel gives the wine its fragrant elegance and distinction. The château’s vineyards were devastated by the frosts of 1956 and were replanted. As the vineyards have matured, so quality has steadily increased. The addition of old Cabernet Franc from Le Gay has augmented this.

Château Lafleur
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

The Guinaudeau family has owned Château Lafleur since 1872 when it was founded by Henri Greloud, great-great-grandfather of Jacques Guinaudeau. Château Lafleur continued to be improved by Henri's son Charles and then by his cousin André Robin, father to the Robin sisters, Thérèse and Marie who ran the estate until 1984.

After Thérèse's death, Marie passed on the leasehold of the estate to her nephew Jacques Guinaudeau and his wife Sylvie to look after the farm. They ran Château Lafleur from 1985 to 2001. Marie Robin died at the end of 2001, from which time Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau, with their son Baptiste, assumed complete responsibility for the estate.

Château Lafleur covers 4.5 hectares in one holding on the plateau in Pomerol, adjacent to Pétrus, Le Gay and Vieux Château Certan. There is an unusual diversity of soil types at Lafleur, ranging from dark gravely soil through to sandy gravel over clay and sandy limestone. There are also much higher plantings, and proportions in the blend of Cabernet Franc than other Pomerol properties.

These aspects undoubtedly contribute to the originality and complexity of Lafleur's wines, and are elements which ally the style more closely with Cheval-Blanc than Pétrus, with which it is commonly compared. The density of planting is about 8,000 vines per hectare, with every plant being tended quite individually. The vines average more than 30 years of age, with a few over 50 years old.

Château La Grave à Pomerol
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

Part of the Jean-Pierre Moueix stable since 1971, Château La Grave à Pomerol lies in the north-west of the appellation. As the name suggests, it lies on a belt of gravel and sand, quite atypical for the appellation. There are 8 hectares, planted to 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc with an average vine age of 30-years. These yield a mere 3000 cases a year, including the production of a second wine Trignant de Boisset, the château’s former name.

As with all of the Moueix wines, made with the lightest touch of the winemaker’s hand (for example only 25% new oak is used), there is a freshness and elegance here, and the gravel lends the wines a sleekness and alluring fragrance.

Château Latour à Pomerol
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

This estate has been farmed by them since 1962. This charming chateau, embellished by a small tower, is located close to the church in the village of Pomerol. The vineyard, with an average age of 35 years, is characterised by its soil diversity: rather loamy soil around the château itself and more gravelly and clayey on the best blocks near the church.

The vineyards are planted to 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc with a planting density of just under 6,000 vines per hectare. New oak here runs to 50%, given the wine’s power and proportions. The result is a solid, structured yet fleshy wine. There is no second wine here, and production is around 3,000 cases.

Château Magdelaine
Saint-Émilion
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

This lovely property situated on the edge of the famous limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, between Belair and Canon, has for ages produced wines of note. Owned for 2 centuries by one family, before being acquired by Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1952. The château was elected to the rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé at the time of the 1958 classification.

The average age of the vines is 40 years; the vineyard was mostly replanted in 1976, but there are some parcels dating back to 1921. Today this estate is managed by Christian Moueix’s son, Edouard. There is freshness here, allied with density and restraint, and exotic fragrance. These are structured wines that need time.

Château Pibran
Pauillac

The estate is located to the north of the town of Pauillac, close to the Chenal de Gaer, a stream which divides the vineyards of Pauillac into two. Classified as “Cru Bourgeois Superieur”, the chateau was acquired by AXA Millesime in 1987. Since then, it has been run by the team of Chateau Pichon Longueville, an excellent 2nd Classified Growth from Pauillac and flagship of AXA. There has been much investment both in the winemaking facilities and in the vineyards, in terms of replanting and drainage improvement.

Following the purchase of neighbouring La Tour Pibran in 2001 there are 17 hectares of gravelly vineyards, planted with 54% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. Excellent value, long-lasting Pauillac, with pure blackcurrant fruit and creamy tannic stucture.

Château Puy Blanquet
Saint-Émilion
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

In 1958, M Jacquet acquired this lovely property located a few miles to the east of the medieval town of Saint-Emilion. Since his death in 2000, his wife Marcelle together with Mr Pierre Meunier, a previous trainee of Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix, run the property.

Vines, grown on clay with chalk beneath, consist of 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The same in the cellars where the must is vinified in temperature controlled concrete vats before the ageing in one-year-old barrels. This wine is always pleasing, accessible and with a character of crunchy red fruit.

Château Trotanoy
Pomerol
By Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

This famous growth, whose soil was too hard to work and thus called “trop ennui” (too annoying) in medieval French, is located on one of the most beautiful parts of the plateau of Pomerol and was purchased in 1953 by Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix.

The soil here is diverse. In addition to the dark clay so typical of Pomerol, the holdings on the higher parts of the plateau are of gravel. The presence of “machefer”, an iron-rich layer in the subsoil brings power and depth as well as complexity to the wine.

Château Trotanoy’s vineyard was one of the few not to freeze in 1956 and today, it is comprised of very old vines, the average being close to 40 years. As for other Moueix estates, the work done in the vineyard is fastidious - severe pruning in the winter, regular ploughing, crop-thinning, de-leafing, manicuring the clusters in the summer - and allows a perfect ripening of the fruit. The must is vinified in small concrete vats and the young wine matures in 1/3 to 1/2 new oak barrels for about 18 months, as opposed to the 100% at Petrus, a château with which Trotanoy has so many similarities.

When ready, this wine shows enormous complexity and concentration and belongs to the most sought-after Pomerols.