Château Quinault L’Enclos

The estate

Quinault L’Enclos is a vineyard in a town. Its 19 hectares lie inside Libourne, behind walls, in the bends of the Dordogne and 6 kilometers from Cheval Blanc, on gravel that has carried vines since Roman Gaul. The ground was never ordinary. In 1893 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, found it in the Aubert family for 3 generations, with vines on gravel that the phylloxera had never touched: 40 journaux giving about 50 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) of a light, pleasantly perfumed wine that sold at the price of the better bourgeois of the Médoc and went to Belgium, England and Germany. By 1897 most of the vines were 50 years old and some 100, and P. Aubert was making 75 tonneaux.

The owners of Château Cheval Blanc bought it in 2008, and Pierre Lurton, who has directed Cheval Blanc since 1991, runs it with the same team. The vineyard was restructured from 2009, and from the 2011 vintage the wine has been served at Cheval Blanc’s table and shown en primeur beside it. There was no 2013. The vines are 65% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Cabernet Franc, with Malbec planted since 2024; the Cabernets take a larger share here than in most of Saint-Émilion. The revision of 2012 made Quinault L’Enclos a Grand Cru Classé; like Cheval Blanc, it did not apply for the classification of 2022.

Gravel this close to the Dordogne is unusual in Saint-Émilion, closer in spirit to the Graves. The 2005, which I tasted in November 2025, carries the ripeness and balance of that great vintage with richness and precision, and with the elegance that has become the mark of the house.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Libourne, inside the town, by the Dordogne

Classification

Grand Cru Classé in 2012; did not apply in 2022

Owners

The owners of Château Cheval Blanc, since 2008

Direction

Pierre Lurton, with the team of Cheval Blanc

Vineyard

19 hectares, walled, 6 kilometers from Cheval Blanc

Ground

Gravel

Grapes

Merlot 65%, Cabernet Sauvignon 21%, Cabernet Franc 14%; Malbec planted since 2024

Wines

Château Quinault L’Enclos

In history

The Aubert family for 3 generations in 1893, untouched by phylloxera; 75 tonneaux in 1897

Sources: Château Cheval Blanc, Château Quinault L’Enclos · Château Cheval Blanc, the team · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022 · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Quinault L’Enclos 2005, November 1, 2025