Clos de l’Oratoire

The château

Clos de l’Oratoire was cut out of a larger estate. The Beylot family of Libourne built up the property in the middle of the 19th century, and the old books know the land as Peyreau: Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, gave Peyrau under Beylot 25 to 35 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) in 1868, a figure that took in vines across the line in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes; in 1897 Féret credited Charles Beylot with 52 hectares, 25 of them planted, some standing among the first growths, and ranked the wine between the 1st and the 2nd growths; by 1908 Peyreau made 100 tonneaux. Later the better parcels were separated from Peyreau, and the revision of 1969 ranked them, as Clos de l’Oratoire, a Grand Cru Classé. It has kept the rank at every revision since, through the list approved in September 2022.

Joseph-Hubert, Count von Neipperg took a holding in 1972, and his son Stephan bought out the other investors in 1991. Stéphane Derenoncourt has been the consultant since the 1990s. The vineyard is about 13 hectares on the northeast slope of Saint-Émilion, clay and limestone with Fronsac molasse at the top and clay with sand at the foot, at 5,500 to 7,500 vines a hectare, with vines 35 years old on average, planted about 4 parts Merlot to 1 Cabernet Franc. The conversion to organic farming began in April 2017, and the 2020 is the first vintage certified, by Bureau Veritas. The wine is fermented whole berry in wooden vats with pneumatic punching down, stays close to 1 month in vat, goes through malolactic in barrel and is raised on its fine lees. There is one wine and no second.

The 2000 shows what the place does with time. I tasted it in August 2024 in a lineup of 7 wines, and it tied for wine of the night with Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2008 and Château Gazin 1989: garnet, with toffee, dried fruit and ripe plums, and beautifully integrated.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the northeast slope

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 1969 to 2022

Owner

Stephan, Count von Neipperg; a family holding from 1972, his alone from 1991

Consultant

Stéphane Derenoncourt, since the 1990s

Vineyard

About 13 hectares; 5,500 to 7,500 vines a hectare; vines 35 years old on average

Soil

Clay and limestone with Fronsac molasse at the top of the slope; clay with sand at the foot Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

About 4 parts Merlot to 1 Cabernet Franc

Farming

Organic; conversion from April 2017, certified by Bureau Veritas from the 2020 vintage

Cellar

Whole berry in wooden vats; pneumatic punching down; close to 1 month in vat; malolactic in barrel; fine lees

Wines

Clos de l’Oratoire; no second wine

In history

The land of Peyreau: 52 hectares, 25 in vine, ranked between the 1st and the 2nd growths in 1897