Château Coutelin Merville

The estate

Coutelin Merville was born of a boundary. In 1869 E. Lefort, the owner of Château d’Hanteillan at Cissac, bought a vineyard at Saint-Estèphe with its chais and cuvier, separated his Saint-Estèphe vines from those of Hanteillan and made them a cru of their own; the 2 vineyards lay in a single block, divided only by a path that marked the line between the communes. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, told the story in 1874, with the new cru at 50 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and by 1886 ranked it among the crus bourgeois supérieurs of Saint-Estèphe. It was under Blanchet and Saget in 1899. The Estager family, from Corrèze, bought it in 1902, and in 1922 Estager frères were making 60 tonneaux. It was a Cru Bourgeois in 1932, the year that classification was created. When Guy Estager died in 1987 his children took it over: Bernard, a chartered accountant who gave up his profession to run the estate and earned the qualifications it demanded, and François, who works alongside him.

The vines grow on clay and limestone, planted at 8,300 vines a hectare and picked by hand. The blend is 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Franc, and the wine spends 12 months in oak barrels; production is 110,000 bottles. Coutelin Merville is a Cru Bourgeois in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe

Classification

Cru Bourgeois in 1932, 2020 and 2025

Owners

The Estager family, since 1902

Direction

Bernard and François Estager, since 1987

Vineyard

8,300 vines a hectare; picked by hand

Ground

Clay and limestone

Grapes

Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 25%, Cabernet Franc 25%

Cellar

12 months in oak barrels

Production

110,000 bottles

Wines

Château Coutelin Merville

In history

Formed in 1869 by E. Lefort, of Hanteillan; Estager frères, 60 tonneaux, in 1922

Sources: Maison du Vin de Saint-Estèphe, Château Coutelin Merville · Maison du Vin de Saint-Estèphe, Château Coutelin Merville, in English · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, Château Coutelin Merville · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020