Château La Commanderie

The estate

La Commanderie was a house before it was a cru. Clarets and Sauternes, an English survey of 1920, found it the usual residence of the Lande-Lapelletrie family, an interesting old building once used by the Templars, whose vast cellars cut into the rock served admirably for keeping and aging the wines. A history of Saint-Émilion published in 1923 dated it with the town’s fortifications, noted 2 Romanesque windows like those of the Palais Cardinal and a wall walk ending in a corbelled turret, and repeated the tradition that the Templars had lived here.

It stands at Fortin, on the gravel plateau northwest of the town, on limestone gravel, iron-rich sands and clay. The Decoster family owns it, and it is run by Magali and Thibaut Decoster, winegrowers who settled at Clos des Jacobins on January 1, 2005 and now farm 4 family properties: Clos des Jacobins, La Commanderie, Château de Candale and Château Roc de Candale. Mike Germon directs the estates and Yohann Mourceins-Zecchi is cellar master. The revision of 2012 made La Commanderie a Grand Cru Classé, beside Clos des Jacobins, and the list of September 2022 confirmed it.

The vineyard is small, 3.7 hectares of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, with vines 35 years old on average. The family’s estates are certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms), level 3, and organic from the 2024 vintage. The grapes are picked by hand and fermented in concrete, and the wine is raised half in new barrels and half in tanks: about 19,000 bottles a year.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, at Fortin, on the gravel plateau northwest of the town

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 2012 and 2022

Owners

The Decoster family; Magali and Thibaut Decoster

Direction

Mike Germon; Yohann Mourceins-Zecchi, cellar master

Vineyard

3.7 hectares; vines 35 years old on average

Ground

Limestone gravel, iron-rich sands and clay

Grapes

Merlot 75%, Cabernet Franc 25%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3; organic from the 2024 vintage

Cellar

Picked by hand; concrete; 50% new barrels, 50% tanks

Production

About 19,000 bottles

Wines

Château La Commanderie

The house

Held to be a house of the Templars, with cellars cut into the rock

Sources: Vignobles Magali et Thibaut Decoster, the properties · Vignobles Magali et Thibaut Decoster, the commitments · Vignobles Magali et Thibaut Decoster, the team · Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion, Château La Commanderie · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, Château La Commanderie · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022