Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry

The château

Simon Malescot had the estate from 1697, and the Comte Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Exupéry added the second half of the name when he bought it in 1827. It went at auction in 1853, 2 years before the classification, and changed hands again in 1901. By the time Paul and Roger Zuger bought it in June 1955, a Third Growth of Margaux had been worn down to 7 hectares. The family, of Swiss origin, has held it since and built it back: Jean-Luc Zuger took it over in 1994, and his daughter Léa, back at the estate since 2020 to prepare the succession, is its managing director. Michel Rolland consulted here from 1991 until his death in March 2026. Unusually for a classified growth, Malescot receives no visitors.

The vineyard is 28 hectares within a property of 45, on gravel over chalk and clay with iron deposits, the gravel 10 meters deep in places, planted at 10,000 vines a hectare, with vines 35 years old on average: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. The Cabernet Franc was pulled up after the 2021 harvest, and 2021 is the last vintage to contain it. The grapes are picked by hand into crates; the wine is fermented without added yeast, racked once during 12 to 14 months in oak, 70% of the barrels new, and bottled without fining or filtering. La Dame de Malescot is the second wine; around 1920 the second wine was called Cru de la Colonie. The label carries the motto Semper ad altum.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Margaux

Classification

Troisième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Zuger family, since June 1955

Direction

Léa Zuger, managing director; Jean-Luc Zuger, who took over in 1994

Consultant

Michel Rolland, from 1991 until his death in March 2026

Vineyard

28 hectares within a property of 45; 7 hectares in 1955; 10,000 vines a hectare; vines 35 years old on average

Soil

Gravel over chalk and clay with iron deposits, up to 10 meters deep Terroir of Margaux →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Merlot 46%, Petit Verdot 4%

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms)

Cellar

Picked by hand; no added yeast; 12 to 14 months in oak, 70% new; no fining, no filtering

Wines

Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry; La Dame de Malescot