Château Saint-Georges Côte Pavie

The estate

The remains of a Roman villa of the 3rd and 4th centuries lie on the ground of Saint-Georges Côte Pavie. In 1110 the archbishop of Bordeaux gave the collegiate church of Saint-Émilion a church here dedicated to Saint George; by 1420 the domain belonged to the abbey of La Sauve Majeure, and the de Grailly family owned it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Jules Charoulet, born in 1838, bought it in the 1870s, together with Clos La Madeleine, and the estate carries a gold medal from the Paris exhibition of 1867. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, gave Charoulet 8 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) among the 1ers crus in 1874; by 1908 his son Adolphe was making 20, from 1 of the few vineyards of Saint-Émilion that had kept their old French vines, and in 1922 they noted that it was the only cru of Saint-Émilion called Château Saint-Georges.

Adolphe Charoulet, deputy of the Gironde in 1924, died in 1936, and the estate passed to his daughter Hélène and her husband René Masson; Jacques Masson took over in 1980 and his son Philippe Masson in 2016. Philippe brought in Stéphane Derenoncourt and Hannah Fiegenschuh as consultants and built a new vat house, working for the 2020 harvest. In 2017 he decided, with the cellar master Aurélien Baylan, to make the historic parcel of 0.5 hectare on its own: Clos 1873, all Merlot, first picked in 2018, raised 18 months in barrel and named for the year of the purchase. The list approved in September 2022 confirmed the estate as a Grand Cru Classé.

The vines cover 5 hectares of clay and limestone on the Pavie slope, facing the station, planted 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, 35 years old on average, and the estate holds ISO 14001 certification. The grapes are picked by hand and fermented in concrete and stainless steel, and the grand vin (the estate’s first wine) is raised 30% in new barrels and 70% in barrels of 1 wine and older. About 20,000 bottles are made, and a shop called Clos 1873 stands at the southern entrance of the town.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the Pavie slope, facing the station

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 2022

Owners

The Masson family, heirs of Jules Charoulet; Philippe Masson since 2016

Direction

Aurélien Baylan, cellar master

Consulting

Stéphane Derenoncourt and Hannah Fiegenschuh

Vineyard

5 hectares, 0.5 of them for Clos 1873; vines 35 years old on average

Ground

Clay and limestone

Grapes

Merlot 80%, Cabernet Franc 20%

Farming

ISO 14001

Cellar

Picked by hand; concrete and stainless steel; a vat house of 2020; 30% new barrels for the grand vin; 18 months in barrel for Clos 1873

Production

About 20,000 bottles

Wines

Château Saint-Georges Côte Pavie; Clos 1873

In history

A church given to the collegiate church of Saint-Émilion in 1110; a 1er cru at 8 tonneaux in 1874

Sources: Château Saint-Georges Côte Pavie, the heritage · Château Saint-Georges Côte Pavie, the Clos 1873 · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, Château Saint-Georges Côte Pavie · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022