Château Grand Clapeau Olivier

The château

Grand Clapeau Olivier stands at Blanquefort, at the gates of the Médoc, and began in the 1850s as a farm founded by Edouard Avril. It became a serious vineyard quickly. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list it among the crus bourgeois from 1874, under E. Avril père, at 90 tonneaux, and describe an estate of 84 hectares with 57 of vines, 13 at Le Pian and 44 at Blanquefort, on rises of clayey gravel on one of the highest hills of Blanquefort, in the section of Cachac. The vines, kept low in the Médoc way, were one quarter Cabernet Sauvignon, half Cabernet Franc and one quarter Malbec and Merlot, and the guide counted the wines among the best of the commune; it won a bronze medal at Paris in 1878. After the Avrils it belonged to Pierre Perrin in 1898, with 33 hectares of vines, and to Aristide Morel in 1922.

Phylloxera did not spare its vines in the 19th century, and the estate went on as a farm; only from 1980 did it turn, step by step, to winegrowing alone. The name probably comes from an old local word for stones and pebbles. Pierre Baudinière and his daughters run it today as independent winegrowers.

The vineyard, about 30 hectares, lies on gravel around the property, looking out over the canton, planted 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot, and certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) since 2019. The grapes are fully destemmed and fermented in vat at 28 to 30°C, and the wine is aged in oak barrels. The blend follows the year: the 2019 is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2021 72% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Petit Verdot. The estate makes 150,000 bottles, and a rosé beside the red. It was a Cru Bourgeois in the classifications of 2020 and 2025.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Blanquefort

Classification

Cru Bourgeois, 2020 and 2025

Owners

Pierre Baudinière and his daughters

Vineyard

About 30 hectares

Soil

Gravel Terroir of Haut-Médoc →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 42%, Petit Verdot 3%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, since 2019

Cellar

Fully destemmed; fermented in vats at 28 to 30°C; aged in oak barrels

Production

150,000 bottles

Wines

Château Grand Clapeau Olivier; a rosé

In history

A cru bourgeois of E. Avril père from 1874, at 90 tonneaux; a bronze medal at Paris in 1878