Château Coutet

The château

The place was lived on in Roman times, when it was called Domaine de Francs, and in the 15th century Sieur François Coutet gave it his name; a notary’s deed of January 2, 1537 already mentions the estate. In 1601 it passed to Thomas d’Augereau, mayor of Libourne, whose wife was Marie David, and it has belonged to her descendants, the David Beaulieu family, for some 400 years; 3 generations live on the property today. The trade books knew it well. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, placed the Coutet of Alphonse David among the vins de seconde marque of Saint-Émilion in 1853, at 25 to 30 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). By 1868 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, had it as a 1er cru of Alphonse David, conseiller à la Cour impériale, with 9 hectares on the plateau and the southwest slope above the Dordogne, making soft wines with a long bouquet. From 1897 it stood under the David Beaulieu name at 40 tonneaux, about 17 hectares by 1899, and it was still a 1er cru of the family in 1922. Clarets and Sauternes, a guide published in 1920, already took care to tell its readers that the Château Coutet of Barsac is a different estate.

André David Beaulieu, a naturalist and ornithologist who had served as a colonial administrator in French Indochina, managed Coutet until 1969. Today Alain David Beaulieu is manager and winemaker, with his brother Xavier, and Adrien, of the 14th generation to live at Coutet, is in charge of sales.

The vineyard lies 500 meters from the center of the town, at the top of the plateau of Saint-Martin de Mazerat, in 3 parts: 4.5 hectares on the plateau, where a thin brown limestone soil covers limestone full of starfish fossils; 3.5 hectares on the Côte de Franc, on deeper, heavy clay and limestone; and 5 hectares at the foot of the slope, on clayey sand lying partly over crasse de fer. It is planted at about 6,000 vines a hectare, 60% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, which the old growers call Bouchet, with Malbec, here called Pressac, and Cabernet Sauvignon; the oldest vines are over 80 years old. No herbicide, pesticide or other chemical treatment has ever been used on it; it was certified organic in 2012, the vines are worked by hand and the grapes are picked by hand into small crates, and the wine is made in stainless steel vats. The Cuvée Emeri comes from the highest plots, called Peycocut, of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, trodden by hand and aged 18 months in oak barrels, 50% new, and it is bottled in a copy of an old hand-blown bottle sealed with emery that was found in the château’s cellar.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the plateau of Saint-Martin de Mazerat

Classification

No classification

Owners

The David Beaulieu family, for about 400 years

Direction

Alain David Beaulieu, manager and winemaker, with his brother Xavier; Adrien David Beaulieu, sales

Vineyard

13 hectares: 4.5 on the plateau, 3.5 on the Côte de Franc, 5 at the foot of the slope; about 6,000 vines a hectare; the oldest over 80 years

Soil

Brown limestone soil over limestone with starfish fossils on the plateau; heavy clay and limestone on the slope; clayey sand partly over crasse de fer at the foot Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 60%, Cabernet Franc 30%, with Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon

Farming

Never treated with chemicals; certified organic in 2012; picked by hand into small crates

Cellar

Stainless steel vats

Wines

Château Coutet; Cuvée Emeri, from the Peycocut plots, 18 months in oak barrels, 50% new

Not to be confused with

Château Coutet, Barsac

In history

Among the vins de seconde marque in 1853; a 1er cru from 1868; 40 tonneaux, 1897 to 1922