Clos des Jacobins

The château

The property was founded in the 18th century on land that had belonged to the church, and it takes its name from the Jacobin friars. It came into print only in 1901, when the supplement to Bordeaux et ses vins, the guide of Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret and the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed Cru des Jacobins et La Gomerie under Vauthier at 15 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), among the growths between the 1st and the 2nd crus; by 1908 it made 30 tonneaux from a single piece on the northwest slope, 600 meters from the Palais Cardinal and the Grandes Murailles. Clos des Jacobins was a Grand Cru Classé in the first Saint-Émilion classification of 1955 and has kept the rank at every revision since, through 1969, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2012 and the list approved in September 2022.

Domaines Cordier, the négociant (a merchant who buys from the châteaux and sells on) house, owned it from 1964 to 2001, Gérard Frydman from 2001, and the Decoster family bought it in 2004; Thibaut and Magali Decoster run it. Hubert de Boüard of Château Angélus has advised the estate since 2001, and it was his first client on the Right Bank. The name, shortened from Château Clos des Jacobins in 1997, is easy to confuse with Couvent des Jacobins, a different Grand Cru Classé in the middle of the town. The Decosters also own Château la Commanderie, a Grand Cru Classé since 2012, and Château de Candale, and opened a restaurant and shop at the property in 2017.

The vineyard is 8.5 hectares of clay and limestone at the foot of the slope, facing south, at 6,500 to 8,500 vines a hectare, with vines about 30 years old on average and some near 85. It is mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine ferments in truncated cone tanks of French oak, goes through malolactic in barrel and spends about 18 months in oak, most of it new. Prieur des Jacobins is the second wine.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, at the foot of the slope on the edge of the town

Classification

Grand Cru Classé in every list from 1955 to 2022

Owners

The Decoster family, since 2004; Domaines Cordier, 1964 to 2001

Direction

Thibaut and Magali Decoster

Consultant

Hubert de Boüard, since 2001

Vineyard

8.5 hectares facing south; 6,500 to 8,500 vines a hectare; vines about 30 years old on average, some near 85

Soil

Clay and limestone at the foot of the slope Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon

Cellar

Truncated cone tanks of French oak; malolactic in barrel; about 18 months in oak, mostly new

Wines

Clos des Jacobins; Prieur des Jacobins

The name

Shortened from Château Clos des Jacobins in 1997

Not to be confused with

Couvent des Jacobins, a different Grand Cru Classé in the middle of the town, in the Jean family since 1902

In history

Cru des Jacobins et La Gomerie at 15 tonneaux in 1901; 30 tonneaux by 1908