Château Le Crock

The château

Pierre Merman, a Bordeaux merchant, bought the land in 1788, and his family built the château at the start of the 19th century, in Bordeaux stone on a slope of the vineyard; it is listed today as a regional heritage site. The estate was known then as the Cru de Merman and stayed with 3 generations of Mermans, merchants in the colonial and wine trades, and the trade books followed it closely. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, gave Crock 80 to 100 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) under Merman in his edition of 1845; Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, ranked it in 1883 among the first of the superior bourgeois growths of the Médoc, and in 1886 printed it as Château Le Crock under Georges Merman, who by 1898 also sat on the council of the arrondissement for the canton of Pauillac.

The Cuvelier family, merchants of Haubourdin in the Nord, bought it early in the 20th century, and in 1920 went on to buy Château Léoville Poyferré and Château Moulin Riche; by then Clarets and Sauternes, a guide of 1920, had Le Crock as a property of H. Cuvelier et Fils, who also owned Château Camensac. In 1922 Cocks and Féret gave it 125 tonneaux, a gold medal of 1907 and a place at the head of the grands bourgeois supérieurs of the Médoc. The family later planted in Argentina, at Cuvelier Los Andes. Sara Lecompte Cuvelier has been managing director since 2018, with Isabelle Davin as winemaker since 2000, Jonathan Servant in the vineyard since 2015 and Yoann Lavigne as cellar master since 2017.

The vineyard is 32 hectares in 3 separate areas, on deep gravel beds, sandy at the surface, with clay beneath, planted 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The vines average 50 years, and most of the best plots were planted just before the Second World War. Organic farming has been on trial since 2015, and the vineyard has been certified Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) since the 2017 vintage; the berries are tasted every day to set the order of picking. The wine ages 12 to 15 months in French oak of 225 and 500 liters, 30% renewed each vintage, and in clay amphorae. Château La Croix Saint-Estèphe, the second wine, comes mostly from the youngest vines. Le Crock was ranked Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in February 2020 and again in February 2025, 1 of 14.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Estèphe

Commune

Saint-Estèphe

Classification

Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, 2020 and 2025; 1 of 14

Owners

The Cuvelier family, since the early 20th century

Direction

Sara Lecompte Cuvelier, managing director, since 2018; Isabelle Davin, winemaker, since 2000; Jonathan Servant, vineyard, since 2015; Yoann Lavigne, cellar master, since 2017

Vineyard

32 hectares in 3 areas; vines of 50 years on average

Soil

Deep gravel, sandy at the surface, with clay beneath Terroir of Saint-Estèphe →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 56%, Merlot 33%, Cabernet Franc 6%, Petit Verdot 5%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, since the 2017 vintage; organic trials since 2015

Cellar

12 to 15 months in French oak of 225 and 500 liters, 30% renewed each vintage, and clay amphorae

Wines

Château Le Crock; Château La Croix Saint-Estèphe, the second wine

The house

Built by the Merman family in the early 19th century, in Bordeaux stone; a listed regional heritage site

In history

Merman at 80 to 100 tonneaux in 1845; H. Cuvelier et Fils, 125 tonneaux, in 1922