Château de Côme

The estate

Côme takes its name from a patrician family of Saint-Estèphe, and its vineyard goes back to about 1840. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list the Cru de Côme under Benneteau from 1883, at 30 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), among the bourgeois growths of the commune, and in 1886 they ranked it a cru bourgeois supérieur. In 1922 it was making 20 tonneaux, and half of the old cru had been joined to La Tour des Termes. When Baron Maurice Velge bought Côme in 1997, only 2 hectares were left. The vineyard soon grew to 7, and his family runs it today. José Bueno, who trained at Château Mouton Rothschild and ran the winemaking at Château Clerc Milon and Château d’Armailhac, is the director; Miguel Esteban has looked after the vines and the cellar since 2001, and Éric Boissenot has consulted since 2008.

The vines are on clay and limestone parcels, planted 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot, and the vineyard has been certified organic from the 2018 vintage. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard and again on a table in the cellar, fermented in medium-sized cement vats, and the wine spends 12 months in barrels of Allier oak, 20 to 25% of them new. Since 2011 Côme has also made a wine with no added sulfur. It was ranked Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2020 and again in 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, 2020 and 2025

Owners

The Velge family, since 1997

Direction

José Bueno, director; Miguel Esteban, vineyard and cellar, since 2001

Consultant

Éric Boissenot, since 2008

Vineyard

7 hectares, from 2 in 1997

Ground

Clay and limestone

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Merlot 45%, Petit Verdot 10%

Farming

Organic, certified from the 2018 vintage

Cellar

Sorted 2 times; cement vats; 12 months in Allier oak, 20 to 25% new

Wines

Château de Côme; a wine with no added sulfur, since 2011

In history

Cru de Côme under Benneteau, 30 tonneaux, from 1883; half of it joined to La Tour des Termes by 1922

Sources: Château de Côme, welcome · Château de Côme, the property · Château de Côme, the team · Maison du Vin de Saint-Estèphe, Château de Côme · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2025 · Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, the classification of 2020