Château Côte de Baleau

The estate

Côte de Baleau lies just outside the town, on the clay and limestone slope that opens the chain of Saint-Émilion hills to the west, with clay and sand at its foot. It was a 1er cru in 1874, when Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, gave the domain of Côte-Balleau under Coste-Costy 20 hectares, 10 of them in vines, making 20 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and the rest in meadow. By 1893 it was Château Baleau under the commandant James Malen, and by 1908 it made 75 tonneaux; he had kept old French vines, some of them a century old, at great cost, and made a 2e cru from the younger and less well placed vines to protect the name of the first. A history of Saint-Émilion published in 1923 called the château an oasis of green in a landscape of nothing but vines.

The Cuvelier family, owners of Clos Fourtet, bought the estate in 2013, together with Les Grandes Murailles, 2 hectares against Clos Fourtet, and a share of Clos Saint-Martin, 1.3 hectares; they also own Château Poujeaux in Moulis. Matthieu Cuvelier runs Côte de Baleau. The revision of 2012 had made Côte de Baleau a Grand Cru Classé, and the list approved in September 2022 confirmed it.

The property is 18 hectares, 15 of them classified, planted 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc with vines 31 years old on average, and certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms). The grapes are picked by hand and fermented in stainless steel; the wine is raised 25% in new barrels, 50% in barrels of 1 wine and older, and 25% in tanks. About 70,000 bottles are made.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, just outside the town, on the slope that opens the hills to the west

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 2012 and 2022

Owners

The Cuvelier family, since 2013

Direction

Matthieu Cuvelier

Vineyard

18 hectares, 15 of them classified; vines 31 years old on average

Ground

Clay and limestone on the slope; clay and sand at its foot

Grapes

Merlot 95%, Cabernet Franc 5%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale

Cellar

Picked by hand; stainless steel; 25% new barrels, 50% barrels of 1 wine and older, 25% tanks

Production

About 70,000 bottles

Wines

Château Côte de Baleau

In history

Côte-Balleau, a 1er cru at 20 tonneaux, in 1874; Château Baleau at 75 in 1908, with a 2e cru from the lesser vines

Sources: Château Côte de Baleau, the properties · Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion, Château Côte de Baleau · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, Château Côte de Baleau · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022