Château Villemaurine

The estate

Villemaurine stands on the limestone plateau at the edge of the town, and by local tradition its name goes back to Ville Maure, a Moorish settlement of the 7th century. It is the story of an estate made, broken and made again. Antoine Limouzin, first clerk of the port of Libourne, held it in the early 1600s; Jean Combret de Faurie, who also owned Soutard, developed the vineyard in the 18th century; Jean Laveau bought it in 1811, and at his death in 1836 it was divided among relatives and farmed in pieces. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, still printed it a first growth of Saint-Émilion in 1874, under 3 co-owners, and in 1893 under Madame Mathilde Jean, at 15 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels): about 6 hectares of fine varieties against the eastern ramparts, on the part of the commune they held the most esteemed. Raoul Passemard bought it in 1894 and put it back together, and by 1897 it made 20 tonneaux.

The official lists have been less steady. Villemaurine was a Grand Cru Classé in 1955, 1969, 1986 and 1996, and the classification of 2006 struck it off. The courts annulled that classification, the list of 1996 came back into force, parliament prolonged it to the harvest of 2011, and the rank never left the label; the revision of 2012 classified the estate again, and the list approved in September 2022 confirmed it. The Giraud family bought Villemaurine in 1970 and the Onclin family in 2005, with a first vintage in 2007. Since 2021 it has belonged to the Lefévère family, who also own Château Sansonnet, Château Moulin du Cadet and Château Soutard Cadet.

The 7 hectares lie in 1 unbroken block on the starfish limestone, with very little relief: a gentle slope to the west and, to the east, a plateau tipping slightly north. The topsoil is coarser and sandier in the west, finer and richer in clay in the east, and the planting is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The wine ferments in small double-walled stainless steel vats that hold their temperature through the maceration, with an oval automatic punching device. Its aging, 16 to 20 months in all, begins in a barrel cellar above ground and ends in the quarry beneath the château, which keeps its own temperature and humidity without help. Les Angelots de Villemaurine, from parcels at the heart of the plateau, is the second wine.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the limestone plateau at the edge of the town

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 1955, 1969, 1986, 1996, 2012 and 2022; struck off in 2006, a list the courts annulled

Owners

The Lefévère family, since 2021, also owners of Château Sansonnet, Château Moulin du Cadet and Château Soutard Cadet

Vineyard

7 hectares in 1 unbroken block

Ground

Starfish limestone; coarser, sandier topsoil in the west, finer and more clayey in the east

Grapes

Merlot 80%, Cabernet Franc 20%

Cellar

Small double-walled stainless steel vats; 16 to 20 months, finished in the quarry cellar beneath the château

Wines

Château Villemaurine; Les Angelots de Villemaurine

In history

A first growth of Saint-Émilion in 1874 and 1893; rebuilt by Raoul Passemard from 1894

Sources: Château Villemaurine, yesterday · Château Villemaurine, today · Château Villemaurine, the plateau · Château Villemaurine, the terroir · Château Villemaurine, the winemaking · Château Villemaurine, Les Angelots de Villemaurine · Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion, Château Villemaurine · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022