Château La Marzelle

The château

La Marzelle has papers going back to 1741, when a notary recorded it in the hands of the Largeteau family, who kept it until 1891; the Belleyme map of 1821 shows it. The name once covered several holdings. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, first printed it as a growth in 1886, at 15 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), under Alph. Bonneval. By 1893 there were 4 La Marzelles, one of them a Clos La-Marzelle cut in 1885 from the upper part of the Longa property, on the plateau facing Château Figeac; Croque-Michotte, too, had once been part of La Marzelle. Labels of 1925 already read Premier cru classé, 30 years before any official list. The estate was in the first classification, of 1955, and the list approved in September 2022 confirms it among the 71 Grands Crus Classés.

Jacqueline and Jean-Jacques Sioen, from Belgium, bought the château with 13 hectares in 1998 and added 4 more in 2003. In 2020 the estate passed to their 3 daughters, Michèle, Pascale and Danielle Sioen, and Jean-Charles Joris, a grandson and the 3rd generation, has managed it since then. Between 2003 and 2022, 6 replantings took the density from 5,600 vines a hectare to 7,150, and in 2009 the label went back to its design of 1925.

The vineyard, 17 hectares on the Haute Terrasse, has 3 soils: sand to 70 centimeters over deep, heavy clay; brown gravelly soil from Tertiary deposits; and sand over a sandy clay subsoil. It is planted 75% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the first wine is blended around 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; the 2023 made 55,000 bottles. Château Prieuré La Marzelle is the second wine and Elle de La Marzelle, made to drink young, the third; a little rosé, Le Rosé de La Marzelle, is sold as Vin de France. La Marzelle stays under the radar and keeps making serious wine. The 2016, which I tasted in December 2024, had an intense, perfumed nose, tannin, acidity and alcohol in balance, red fruit joined by tertiary notes, and a long finish. The 2025, which I tasted from barrel in April 2026, was another strong example, and a reminder that Saint-Émilion still holds value for those paying attention.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the Haute Terrasse toward Libourne

Classification

Grand Cru Classé in the first classification, of 1955, and in 2022

Owners

The Sioen family, since 1998

Direction

Jean-Charles Joris, since 2020

Vineyard

17 hectares; 7,150 vines a hectare after 6 replantings, 2003 to 2022

Soil

Sand over heavy clay; brown gravel; sand over sandy clay Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 75%, Cabernet Franc 17%, Cabernet Sauvignon 8%; the first wine around 70, 20 and 10

Production

55,000 bottles in 2023

Wines

Château La Marzelle; Château Prieuré La Marzelle; Elle de La Marzelle; Le Rosé de La Marzelle

In history

In the archives from 1741; 4 separate La Marzelles in 1893