Château Citran

The estate

Citran was a seigneury long before it was a cru. In 1789 it belonged to M. de Donissan, who died with his son-in-law M. de Lescure in the wars of the Vendée; Madame de Lescure came back to Citran in 1795 and married her cousin Louis de La Rochejaquelein there in 1802. The Donissan de Citran family kept it until 1832, when the last heiress had to sell to Clauzel, an ambitious businessman who drew the property’s present outline and put it on the Bordeaux map.

The wine was already known: William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, lists Citran at Avensan in that first edition, at 60 to 80 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). Under the Clauzels it was a vast domain. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, ranked it a cru bourgeois supérieur and in 1874 described a domain of about 600 hectares, 120 of them old vines in 2 great enclosures, 1 of pure gravel like the land of Margaux and the other of clay and limestone like that of Moulis, planted 3 quarters Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 quarter Merlot, with crops of up to 300 tonneaux. The château was built around 1861 on the site of a castle whose wide moats could still be seen. Citran won gold medals at Paris in 1878 and at Bordeaux in 1882 and 1907, but by 1893 the Clauzel heirs had divided the domain into 6 equal lots.

The Miailhe brothers bought it in 1945 and restored it until 1987; a Japanese group then bought it and invested heavily, and in 1996 the Merlaut family took it over. The château has been a listed historic monument since 2012, and peacocks roam the park.

The vineyard is in 2 blocks, 1 around the château and the other higher up around the village, and some rows have been turned to catch more sun. Each plot is farmed to its own needs: some traditionally, some with a cover crop in every 2nd row, and 1 third of the vineyard organically. Éric Boissenot tastes with the team through the vinification. The grand vin (the estate’s first wine) blends Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the best plots, ages 15 months in barrels from chosen coopers, 1 third new, and is bottled at the château. The second wine is Les Moulins de Citran, and there is a rosé, La Rosée de Citran.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Avensan

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Merlaut family, since 1996

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

2 blocks, around the château and around the village

Grapes

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc

Farming

Plot by plot; 1 third of the vineyard organic

Cellar

15 months in barrel, 1 third new; bottled at the château

Wines

Château Citran; Les Moulins de Citran; La Rosée de Citran, a rosé

The château

Built around 1861; a listed historic monument since 2012

In history

A cru bourgeois supérieur of about 600 hectares under the Clauzels in 1874

Sources: Château Citran, a story · Château Citran, a land · Château Citran, a wine · Château Citran, visits