Clos du Clocher

The estate

In 1924 Jean-Baptiste Audy, who had founded a merchant house on the quays of Libourne in 1906, bought plots at the foot of the church of Pomerol, in the heart of the plateau, and named the estate for the bell tower that rises over the vines. The family had come from the Corrèze; Philippe Audy settled at Château Jonqueyres, in the Entre-deux-Mers, in 1881. A marriage made it 2 families: Germaine Audy married Olivier Bourotte, whose parents had bought Château Bonalgue in 1926. Pierre Bourotte took over the vineyards at 18. Jean-Baptiste Bourotte, the founder’s great-grandson, graduated from HEC Paris in 1996 and worked for Cartier before coming home, and in 2023 he signed his 20th harvest at the head of Clos du Clocher. Mathieu Bonté is technical director.

The 4.6 hectares lie on blue clay under a cover of gravel laid down by the river, and the elasticity of the clay regulates the water the vines receive. Merlot leads, with 70%, and Cabernet Franc from vines 70 years old gives the other 30%. The rows are grassed naturally or sown with oats and clover and fed with compost; every estate of the family holds Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3, and Clos du Clocher has been converting to organic farming since 2021, as has Château Monregard La Croix. The wine ages 18 months, and the estate makes 20,000 bottles a year. The building, by the Bordeaux architects Fabre de Marien, keeps the Art Deco style of the original, and for the centenary the designer Maxime Lis made a sculpture of steel plates that frames the steeple: 100 years on, the bell tower is still the point of the place.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, at the foot of the church

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Audy and Bourotte family, since 1924

Direction

Jean-Baptiste Bourotte; Mathieu Bonté, technical director

Vineyard

4.6 hectares; Cabernet Franc 70 years old

Ground

Blue clay under river gravel

Grapes

Merlot 70%, Cabernet Franc 30%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3; converting to organic since 2021

Cellar

18 months of aging

Production

20,000 bottles a year

The house

Also Château Bonalgue, Pomerol, and Château Monregard La Croix

Sources: Domaines Bourotte-Audy, Clos du Clocher · Domaines Bourotte-Audy, the family · Domaines Bourotte-Audy, the work of art of Clos du Clocher · Syndicat viticole de Pomerol, Clos du Clocher