Listrac-Médoc

lees-TRAHK may-DOK
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.

One commune on the Listrac dome, a broad bulge in the rock that brings old sea limestones and marls to the surface, red only, on gravel rises and clay and limestone, and a place the brokers of 1855 passed over.

The place

Listrac-Médoc stands between the Landes forest to the west and the estuary to the east, on the Listrac dome, a broad bulge in the rock where the oldest rocks of the area, laid down by Eocene seas, come to the surface; its land lies mostly between 20 and 44 meters. The appellation covers that one commune and nothing else. Three soils sit side by side: gravel rises, clay and limestone plateaus and deep clay, the limestone mostly to the west and the gravel to the east. There are 700 hectares, 567 of them in production, and 65 producers, 34 in the cooperative and 31 on their own: about 4% of the Médoc vineyard.

The rules

Red only, from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, with Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan and Touriga Nacional admitted as varieties of adaptation, to 5% of an estate’s vines. At least 7,000 vines a hectare, rows no wider than 1.50 meters and vines no closer than 0.70, at 54 hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 64 and 11% of natural alcohol at least. The wine is raised until June 1 and sold from July 1 of the year after the harvest. The cahier des charges, the appellation’s official rulebook, homologated on July 31, 2025, also makes environmental certification or organic farming a condition of the name.

The names

No growth of 1855 stands in Listrac. The brokers drew their list from the communes on the gravel nearer the estuary, and Listrac, higher and further inland, was not among them; its estates found their standing in the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc instead. The appellation was recognized in 1957, 3 years after Margaux.

Color
Red
Communes
Listrac-Médoc, and no other
Vineyard
700 hectares, 567 in production; 65 producers, 34 in the cooperative and 31 independent
Soil
Gravel rises, clay and limestone plateaus, deep clay, on the Listrac dome; mostly 20 to 44 meters
Grapes
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot; Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan, Touriga Nacional to 5%
Density
7,000 vines a hectare at least
Yield
54 hectoliters a hectare, ceiling 64
Alcohol
11% natural at least
Release
From July 1 of the year after the harvest
Farming
Environmental certification or organic, required by the rules of 2025
Classified
7 Crus Bourgeois in the classification of 2025
AOC since
1957; cahier of July 31, 2025

Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges Listrac-Médoc, arrêté du 31 juillet 2025 · INAO, Listrac-Médoc · Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, Listrac-Médoc · Appellation Communale Listrac-Médoc, history · Cave Grand Listrac, the appellation

The stack

The same land in Listrac-Médoc may also be labeled Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Crémant de Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc and Moulis-en-Médoc. A grower chooses which appellation to sell under, and the narrowest is almost always the dearest.

The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map

The pyramid of names shows what each step promises: vines a hectare, bottles, ripeness, day of sale, grapes. Climb from here

Classifications that reach this appellation: The Crus Bourgeois du Médoc and The Crus Artisans du Médoc.

Terroir

Listrac stands on a fold that the map alone reveals. Here 2 upfolds of the old rock cross, and where they meet the land swells into a broad, gentle dome. Its core lifts the Eocene sea floor to the surface: a sandy limestone, gray to ocher, 44 to 45 million years old, with casts of sea snails.

Building stone was cut from that limestone, in a quarry the 1977 map found largely flooded. Over the limestones the soils are mostly fairly shallow, moderately clayey and limy, brown to gray.

The crest of the water table runs up to Listrac, and from it the groundwater flows 2 ways: toward the Gironde and its streams, and toward the lakes of Carcans and Lacanau and the Atlantic shore. In the top of the limestone, water has dissolved a dense web of tiny channels, and around Listrac it seeps down to refill the deep aquifers. Here a single rain may end in 2 waters.

1,282 ha delimited
  • Slope wash and cover34.2%
  • Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles3.3%
  • Landes sand and the oldest river deposits30.8%
  • Starfish limestone and marine marls8.1%
  • Lake limestones and clays4.6%
  • Older sea limestones and marls19.0%

Shares of the delimited area, measured on BRGM’s geological map, in families by the age and rock its legend prints, youngest first.

Half its delimited soil lies above 30 m, and 9 tenths lies between 20 and 44 m. 0.6% of it is steeper than 10%.

Measured section

01020304050mListrac-Médoc: delimited area0123 km

The line runs 3.4 km, from 39 m to 22 m. Inside the delimited area it lies between 22 and 43 m.

Colors: Slope wash and coverLandes sand and the oldest river depositsStarfish limestone and marine marlsLake limestones and claysOlder sea limestones and marls

Measured section: one elevation every 10 meters, west to east, along the whole of a 3.4 km line set across the appellation by a fixed rule, not chosen for the view (IGN, RGE ALTI 5 m), with the geology at the surface (BRGM, BD Charm-50). Heights stretched 20 times. The layers below the surface are not drawn.
The units, as BRGM prints them
CodeName and age, as printedShare
Slope wash and cover34.2%
CFpFormations superficielles34.2%
Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles3.3%
Fvb(G)Hautes terrasses (RG Garonne) - Terrasse de Martillac (type 2) indifférenciée et terrasse d'Arsac, Ménapien à Bavélien - "Gunz"3.3%
Landes sand and the oldest river deposits30.8%
Ft(Bn)Formation de Belin, Tiglien - "Biber-Donau"30.8%
and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.0% in all
Starfish limestone and marine marls8.1%
g1-ArCalcaire à Archiacina, Rupélien marin5.4%
g1-MlMarnes à Longirostris, Rupélien marin2.6%
and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.1% in all
Lake limestones and clays4.6%
g1-AcFormation de Castillon - Argiles Vertes de Castillon (et formation de la Bessède), Rupélien basal continental1.7%
e7a-PGroupe de Plassac - Calcaire de Plassac, Priabonien inf. continental interstratifié dans le groupe de Plassac3.0%
Older sea limestones and marls19.0%
e7b-AGroupe de Plassac - Faciès régréssif d'Artigues, faciès à Anomies, Priabonien moy. marin4.1%
e7b-MsGroupe de Plassac - Marnes à sismondia occitana et ostrea bernonensis (supérieures), Priabonien moy. marin6.5%
e7a-CeGroupe de Plassac - Calcaires de St Estephe, Priabonien inf. marin1.4%
e7a-MbGroupe de Plassac - Marnes à ostrea bersonensis (inférieures), Priabonien inf. marin2.6%
e6b-AcGroupe de Plassac - Argiles à ostrea cucullaris, Bartonien sup. marin2.7%
and 4 more units under 1% each, 1.6% in all

Informative figures, computed from INAO’s digitized parcel delimitation of October 12, 2026 and BRGM’s harmonized geological map (BD Charm-50); heights from IGN’s RGE ALTI 5 m. The plans held at the town hall are the legal reference. The delimited area is always somewhat larger than what is planted.

Sources: BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille St-Laurent-et-Benon, Étang-de-Carcans à 1/50 000, 1977.

Its soil, layer by layer · See it on the Map · Compare it with another appellation · All about Terroir

Châteaux on this site

Tastings

1

Château Fonréaud 2015 (Listrac-Médoc)

December 9, 2025

Château Fonréaud 2015 (Listrac-Médoc)

News from Listrac-Médoc

4

  1. Sep 22, 2026

    The New Fourcas Dupré Arrives

    Château Fourcas Dupré completed a 3-year transformation in June, following Gérard Jicquel’s 2019 acquisition of the Listrac-Médoc estate.

    Substantial investment in Listrac is significant when many Bordeaux properties face pressure on margins and demand. The project also tests how far capital, positioning and renewed facilities can elevate an appellation that remains relatively accessible.

    Source: Terre de Vins Château Fourcas Dupré Listrac-MédocMédoc The Fine Wine MarketEstates and People

  2. Aug 7, 2026

    Eudémis pressure intensifies on the Bordeaux vineyard

    Eudémis pressure intensified in parts of Bordeaux, with some traps capturing more than 200 moths per week in late July. Graves, southeastern Entre-deux-Mers, Listrac and Moulis were among the areas affected, while 53% of monitored parcels showed no significant activity.

    Source: Vitisphere Entre-deux-MersGravesListrac-MédocMoulis Vineyard and CellarThe Vintage

  3. Jul 2, 2026

    Sheep Help a Bordeaux Vineyard Raise Soil Temperatures by 2°C

    According to Château Clarke, winter sheep grazing raised soil temperatures by about 2°C this year and helped protect young vine buds from spring frost at the 54-hectare estate in Listrac-Médoc.

    Source: Vinetur Château Clarke Listrac-MédocMédoc The VintageVineyard and Cellar

  4. Jun 24, 2026

    Sheep Help a Bordeaux Vineyard Raise Soil Temperatures by 2°C

    According to Château Clarke, winter sheep grazing raised soil temperatures by about 2°C this year at its 54-hectare Cru Bourgeois estate in Listrac-Médoc, helping reduce frost risk for young buds.

    Source: Vinetur Château Clarke Listrac-MédocMédoc Vineyard and CellarThe Vintage