Château Coufran

The château

In the 18th century the abbé Baurein recorded Coufran as the noble house of Cousran. It belonged to the Baron de Brane, then, after the Revolution, to Jean-Valère Cabarrus. In 1845 William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, still listed Coufran with Pontoise under Adolphe Cabarrus, at 125 to 130 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); by 1850 Charles Cocks, in the first edition of what became the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, had separated the 2 and given Coufran to de Verthamon, at 65. The comte de Verthamon sold it to the Célérier family, who held it from 1869. In 1898 the guide, by then signed by Cocks and Édouard Féret, describes 110 hectares, 35 of them vines on rises of clay and clayey gravel, planted almost entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon, making a full-bodied and perfumed wine sought above all in England.

That is the exact reverse of Coufran today. Louis Miailhe bought it in 1924, settled the spelling of the name and replanted the vineyard mainly to Merlot, after wines built on Cabernet had sold badly through the crises of those years. His son Jean followed him, and since about 1980 Jean’s children have held it: Eric Miailhe makes the wine, Marie-Cécile Vicaire keeps the books. The sister estate is Château Verdignan.

The 76 hectares lie in one block on a high plateau of gravel and clay north of the village, close to the estuary. The grand vin (the estate’s first wine) is usually 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, from vines of about 50 years, and that weight of Merlot on the Left Bank is what led a journalist to call Coufran the Pomerol of the Médoc. The Merlots come in first and the Cabernets later, plot by plot, and about two thirds of the crop goes into the grand vin, which ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel and spends 12 months in French oak, 25% of it new; Éric Boissenot helps put the blend together in December. Every bottle since the 2005 vintage carries its lot number, engraved in the glass. The farming holds the Aquitaine certification for environmentally respectful agriculture at its 2nd level and Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3. The other wines are N°2 de Coufran and Château La Rose Maréchale.

I tasted the 2010 in September 2024: full-bodied, with lively acidity, plums, figs and concentrated dried fruit, the color starting to show its years but with plenty of life still ahead. For its price it proves that you do not need to break the bank to drink great Bordeaux. It is a wine I keep coming back to.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Miailhe family, since 1924; Eric Miailhe and Marie-Cécile Vicaire

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

76 hectares in one block; vines of about 50 years

Soil

Gravel and clay on a high plateau by the estuary Terroir of Haut-Médoc →

Grapes

Grand vin usually Merlot 85%, Cabernet Sauvignon 15%

Farming

Agriculture Respectueuse de l’Environnement en Aquitaine, 2nd level; Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3

Cellar

Plot by plot; stainless steel; 12 months in French oak, 25% new; lot number engraved on the bottle since 2005

Wines

Château Coufran; N°2 de Coufran; Château La Rose Maréchale

In history

The Célérier family from 1869; 35 hectares of vines planted almost entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon in 1898