Château La Clotte

The château

The name is the Gascon word for a small dwelling cut into the rock, and that is what stands here: the buildings are set against the cliff face, with underground galleries beneath them. The Chailleau family bought the estate in 1912 and kept it for 100 years; Nelly Moulierac, Sylvain Chailleau’s great-granddaughter, ran it with her cousins from 1990. In September 2014 Alain Vauthier, of Château Ausone, bought it through the family company Mazière, and he was clear at the time that the purchase had nothing to do with Ausone: an entirely separate business. Moulierac kept a minority holding and stayed on.

The vineyard is 4 hectares in the heart of Saint-Émilion, a patchwork of compact terraces on the limestone plateau and the clay and limestone slope, facing south and sheltered from the prevailing wind. The vines stand at 6,000 to the hectare and are about 50 years old on average, around 85% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. The fruit is picked and sorted by hand and the vats filled by gravity; fermentation is in stainless steel, with the cap pushed down by hand and kept submerged, the malolactic runs in barrel, and the wine is raised about 18 months in new barrels. La Clotte is not in the classification approved in September 2022 and is sold as Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, under the southern ramparts

Classification

No classification; not in the list of 2022

Owner

Alain Vauthier, of Château Ausone, through Mazière, since September 2014; the Chailleau family from 1912

Vineyard

4 hectares of south-facing terraces; 6,000 vines a hectare; vines about 50 years old

Soil

Limestone plateau and clay and limestone slope Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot around 85%, the rest Cabernet Franc

Cellar

Picked by hand; gravity; stainless steel, cap submerged by hand; malolactic in barrel; about 18 months in new barrels

The name

Gascon for a small dwelling cut into the rock