Les Cordeliers

The estate

The Cordeliers, the Franciscan friars, were probably settled at Saint-Émilion in the 13th century. In 1343 Pope Clement VI allowed them to move their convent inside the town, and in 1383 they were at last given leave to build it. The Revolution ended their stay in 1789, and the cloister they left is part of the Saint-Émilion listed by UNESCO.

Before it made sparkling wine, the Cordeliers was a red first cru. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed the Cru des Cordeliers in 1886 under Gabriel de Meynot, in the enclosure of the old cloister and in the Menuts, planted mostly with Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot and the petite syrah of the Hermitage; in 1893 they gave it 7 hectares and wondered whether it owed to the Syrah the original sap that set it apart among the first crus. Sparkling wine had been made there since 1892, and by 1897 the owners were turning the whole harvest into sparkling white. The Clos des Cordeliers won a silver medal at Paris in 1900, and a history of Saint-Émilion published in 1923 has the house shipping several hundred thousand bottles a year.

The method is still the traditional one, commonly called champenoise, and the bottles age in the underground cellars of the cloister, in complete darkness, at a steady 12°C. The wines are Crémant de Bordeaux. The Vintage Blanc Brut is 100% Sémillon and the Grand Vintage Blanc Brut 100% Cabernet Franc, from clay and silt in the Entre-deux-Mers, both with a dosage of 7 grams a liter; the range adds a Rosé Brut and demi-sec versions. The cloister is open to visitors, with a bar and a restaurant.

At a glance

Appellation

Crémant de Bordeaux

Commune

Saint-Émilion

Classification

No classification

Owner

Les Cordeliers SAS

Grapes

Vintage Blanc Brut: Sémillon 100%; Grand Vintage Blanc Brut: Cabernet Franc 100%

Cellar

Traditional method; aged on the lees in the underground cellars of the cloister, at 12°C

Wines

Les Cordeliers Vintage and Grand Vintage, Blanc Brut; Rosé Brut; demi-sec

The house

In the Cloître des Cordeliers, open to visitors, with a bar and a restaurant

In history

A red first cru of Saint-Émilion, 7 hectares, in 1893; all sparkling by 1897; a silver medal at Paris in 1900

Sources: Les Cordeliers · Les Cordeliers, the heritage · Les Cordeliers, making sparkling wine · Les Cordeliers, the Vintage Blanc Brut · Les Cordeliers, the Grand Vintage Blanc Brut