Château Haut-Macô

The château

The Mallets have worked at Macô, in Tauriac, since the end of the 19th century. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, list Mallet frères there among the crus artisans from 1874, at 15 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), a few lines below the Château de Macô, and in 1922 the widow of J. Mallet is still there. The first 2 generations built up the vineyard around Château Haut-Macô, the family’s original brand, and Château les Bascauts, a block of vines next to it; Domaine de Lilotte joined in the 1970s, the vines of Château Robert came in the 1980s and Château Govain in 2013. The 3rd generation, Jean and Bernard Mallet, put their money into the cellars: the barrel cellar dates from 1991, the vat cellar from 1994. Bernard’s children, Anne and Hugues Mallet, took over in 2004, and they work with an enologist and cellar master, 3 vineyard workers and 10 seasonal hands.

The 53 hectares of clay and limestone, with vines 30 years old on average, are planted 58% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, in 77 parcels. The family has practiced reasoned farming for a long time, and the estate was certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms), level 3, in 2018. The vines are pruned double Guyot, with 4 buds kept on each cane, and green harvesting thins the most productive parcels; each parcel is picked at its own ripeness, and the grapes are sorted at the door of the vat cellar. There, 16 temperature-controlled vats take each lot apart, with frequent pumping over and macerations of 10 to 25 days, and 18 concrete vats serve mainly for aging; the wines are bottled at the château. Cuvée Jean Bernard, a parcel selection of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, ages in new barrels; Cuvée Traditionnelle, 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec, ages in vats and in barrels of 2 and 3 years, about 120,000 bottles a year.

At a glance

Appellation

Côtes de Bourg

Commune

Tauriac

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Mallet family, since the end of the 19th century

Direction

Anne and Hugues Mallet, since 2004

Vineyard

53 hectares in 77 parcels; vines 30 years old on average

Soil

Clay and limestone Terroir of Côtes de Bourg →

Grapes

Merlot 58%, Cabernet Sauvignon 27%, Cabernet Franc 11%, Malbec 4%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2018

Cellar

16 temperature-controlled vats; 18 concrete vats; barrel cellar of 1991

Production

Cuvée Traditionnelle: about 120,000 bottles a year

Wines

Cuvée Jean Bernard; Cuvée Traditionnelle; Domaine de Lilotte, Bordeaux; Clairet de Haut-Macô; Crémant de Haut-Macô

In history

Mallet frères at Macô, 15 tonneaux, from 1874