Château Clos de Sarpe

The estate

Sarpe was a known cru in the 18th century. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, marked a Sarpe under Ducarpe as a 1er cru of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes in 1868, at 8 to 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and in 1897 Féret printed Clos Sarpe under the heirs of Ducarpe, at 10. Beside it Baron Henri du Foussat de Bogeron was putting together a new château out of pieces of the Sarpe plateau and the best slopes of Badette, the future Château Haut-Sarpe, and by 1898 he had taken the Clos into it. It found its own life again when Jean Beyney, of an old Saint-Émilion family, bought it in 1923.

His son Yvan followed, and in 1986 Jean-Guy Beyney took over with his wife Christine. He replanted Merlot from the 1990s, brought barrels into the cellar in 1998 with Michel Rolland and Jean-Philippe Fort as advisers, and in 2005 began sorting his grapes in a density bath. His niece Maylis Marcenat has directed the estate since 2014, and his son Charles-Antoine is the 4th generation. The revision of 2012 made Clos de Sarpe a Grand Cru Classé, and the list approved in September 2022 confirmed it.

The vineyard is 3.70 hectares in 1 piece on the plateau, facing south by southeast, on 2 molasses over the astéries limestone of the Oligocene, in places under less than 50 centimeters of soil. It is planted 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, and from the 2023 vintage more Cabernet Franc and 3% of Petit Verdot come into the blend. No pesticide or herbicide has ever been used here; the conversion to organic farming began in 2017 and the certificate came in September 2020. Pickers fill crates by hand, and the fruit comes in by ripeness, the young Merlot first and the Cabernet Franc last. The wine ferments in raw concrete and in barrels of 600 liters, spends 13 to 14 months in French oak, 70% of it new, and is bottled unfined and unfiltered: about 10,000 bottles, and 2,000 to 3,000 of the second wine, Charles de Sarpe.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, on the plateau of Sarpe

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 2012 and 2022

Owners

The Beyney family, since 1923; Jean-Guy Beyney since 1986, with his son Charles-Antoine

Direction

Maylis Marcenat, since 2014

Consultants

Michel Rolland, who died in 2026, and Jean-Philippe Fort, from 1998

Vineyard

3.70 hectares in 1 piece, facing south by southeast

Ground

2 molasses over the astéries limestone, under less than 50 centimeters of soil in places

Grapes

Merlot 85%, Cabernet Franc 15%; 3% of Petit Verdot in the blend from 2023

Farming

Never a pesticide or herbicide; organic from 2017, certified in September 2020

Cellar

Picked by hand into crates, sorted by ripeness; raw concrete and barrels of 600 liters; 13 to 14 months in French oak, 70% new; unfined, unfiltered

Production

About 10,000 bottles, and 2,000 to 3,000 of the second wine

Wines

Château Clos de Sarpe; Charles de Sarpe

In history

Ducarpe’s Sarpe, a 1er cru at 8 to 12 tonneaux, in 1868

Sources: Château Clos de Sarpe, the history · Château Clos de Sarpe, the terroir · Château Clos de Sarpe, the vineyard · Château Clos de Sarpe, the wines · Château Clos de Sarpe, the people · Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion, Château Clos de Sarpe · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022