Château Clerc Milon

The estate

The estate takes the first half of its name from the Clerc family and the second from Milon, the hamlet beside it, which they joined to their own name in 1850. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, had Jean-Baptiste Clerc at Le Pouyalet in his edition of 1845, making 15 to 20 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and 10 years later the brokers put his name among the fifth growths. What came next is why the estate of today had to be assembled rather than inherited. In 1901 Édouard Féret, in a supplement to his directory, corrected his own 7th edition: the old growth was now much divided, with the heirs of Mondon and a Monsieur Meynieu among its holders. By 1920 a trade book, Clarets and Sauternes, had it split into several portions, the largest, Monsieur Mondon’s, carrying the right to the brand Clerc-Milon-Mondon, and making 25 tonneaux against 75 in the great year of 1893.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild bought it in 1970 and began replanting at once. His daughter Baronne Philippine de Rothschild took it on at his death in 1988, and since her own death in 2014 it has belonged to her 3 children, Camille Sereys de Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild. Caroline Artaud directs it. The vineyard sits in the north of Pauillac on the Mousset rise, with Mouton Rothschild on 1 side and Lafite Rothschild on the other: 41 hectares in 1 block, on windblown gravel and sand over clay and limestone, facing south and southeast, at 10,000 vines a hectare, with vines 47 years old on average. Cabernet Sauvignon leads, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and a planting of Carmenère from 1947.

The vat room of 2007 is half sunk into the ground for its own cool, with about 40 small double-walled stainless steel vats fed by gravity from above. The barrel hall of 2011, drawn by the architect Bernard Mazières with the stage designer Richard Peduzzi, holds more than 1,000 barrels behind walls of square oak tiles, and more than 300 square meters of solar panels run both buildings. The wine spends 18 months in French oak, 55% of the barrels new. Pastourelle de Clerc Milon, the second wine, has been made since 2009, went on sale in 2015 and has been sold en primeur since the 2020 vintage; a pastourelle is a song in which a knight meets a shepherdess, and the labels of the estate carry dancing figures.

The style has grown steadily more refined since the early 2000s. The 2012, which I tasted in December 2025, played to the strengths of the vintage: aromatic and elegant, all cedar, graphite, red currants and a touch of Pauillac spice; at 13 years the tannins had relaxed into a smooth glide, and the structure still held everything firmly in place.

At a glance

Appellation

Pauillac

Commune

Pauillac, on the Mousset rise, between Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild

Classification

Cinquième Cru Classé 1855; MICHELIN Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owners

The children of Baronne Philippine de Rothschild, since 2014; bought by Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1970

Direction

Caroline Artaud

Vineyard

41 hectares in 1 block; 10,000 vines a hectare; vines 47 years old on average

Ground

Windblown gravel and sand over clay and limestone

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon first, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère planted in 1947

Cellar

Vat room of 2007, gravity; barrel hall of 2011 by Bernard Mazières with Richard Peduzzi; 18 months in French oak, 55% new

Wines

Château Clerc Milon; Pastourelle de Clerc Milon, since 2009

In history

Much divided by 1901; 25 tonneaux in 1920 against 75 in 1893

Sources: Château Clerc Milon, the vineyard · Château Clerc Milon, key dates · Château Clerc Milon, the vat room · Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Château Clerc Milon · Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Pastourelle de Clerc Milon · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Clerc Milon 2012, December 1, 2025