No pics this time, for reasons I’ll explain further on, so just my turgid prose!
Margaux is a long drive from Soulac, about 90 minutes to 2 hours is the traffic is bad, but I particularly wanted to visit two estates and show our girls the “other” side of Bordeaux. First on my list was Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre, but Monsieur Boyer never picked up the phone. I didn’t fancy just turning up in case he greeted us with his shotgun, so that’ll be for next year.
The second property on my list was Clos du Jaugueyron. It was not easy to arrange a visit, it took a couple of pleading emails to Stéphanie Destruhaut, but I’m glad she accepted. Stéphanie’s partner, Michel Théron, was off hiking with their son in the Pyrenees, so it was particularly kind of her to bother.
We got off to a bad start. It turned out that Clos du J. is one of the few Bordeaux domains which is not signposted and which doesn’t even have a sign at the gate! We drove past several times without realising our mistake, knocked on a few doors, were misdirected twice, and eventually found the right place thanks to Stéphanie, who was waiting in the middle of the road (and who I narrowly avoided running over). By that time we were 40 minutes late.
To be fair to us, there is nothing to even suggest that Clos du Jaugueyron is a winery. On arrival, we could see no vines, just what looked like a couple of old barns in the midst of a wood. We parked, glad to stretch our legs and the girls wondered what on earth we were doing there, stuck in a farm in the middle of nowhere. Beychevelle this was not!
Then the magic began.
Stéphanie started with the history of the domain. Neither Michel nor Stéphanie are from well-established Bordeaux families. Michel is from a modest winemaking family based in Minervois, who turned up by accident in the Médoc in 1988, to study oenology at Blanquefort, being unable to get into the Montpellier faculty. He met Stéphanie, who was about to start tourism and language studies at Bordeaux University. Both continued their studies and got their diplomas, after which Michel was keen to stay on in the region and try to start a winery. After looking around, taking the time to get to know people, they came across the owner of a small plot of vines in Cantenac (40 ares, just under one acre) who was prepared to give them a chance, so they began renting the land and produced their first wine in 1993. The vines were pre-phylloxera.
Little by little, they have increased their holding since, and now have 8 hectares, which they rent. Incidentally, they passed on their original plot to some friends, who set up Closerie du Moussis in 2009, so they no longer have the pre-phyloxera vines. The land is in three main plots - two in the Margaux appellation next to Château du Tertre and one in the Haut-Médoc appellation, next to Cantemerle.
From the outset, they were attracted to the idea of organic farming, but coming from a conventional winemaking background and having trained in the same way, it took some time for Michel to be convinced. They were won over by their contacts with winemakers from other parts of France, like Mathieu Cosse, Elian da Ros and Michel Chevré. It’s probably the latter who has had the greatest influence on how their wine tastes, since he’s from the Loire - his domain is Clos de L’Ecotard in Saumur-C, but more importantly perhaps, he was chef de culture at Les Roches Neuves for many years, which would explain the striking similarity.
They never used much chemicals, increasingly following organic principles, but only becoming officially organic in 2009 (I think). From 2000 onwards, they gradually adopted bio-dynamic methods too and have been fully bio-dynamic for several years.
It took a long time to get where they are now. Until 2010, Stéphanie was the main breadwinner, working as a guide and then in sales departments for various GCCs. Times can still be tough - in 2018, they lost 75% of the harvest to mildew. As a result of that, they clubbed together with other organic producers in Margaux and worked out better ways of fighting the disease in the vineyard, without using chemicals, so this year’s outbreak was far less damaging.
Stéphanie then showed us the winemaking facilities and cellar, which were in what looked like big barns. We were immediately struck by the drop in temperature, produced not by air-conditioning, unlike everywhere else, but by efficient and natural insulation. The buildings were constructed using only organic materials.
There are no stainless steel vats, only concrete. The wine is aged 12 months in barrels, without soutirage and with only a minimum of sulphur. Their aim is to produce wines which are elegant, fresh and full of finesse. The barrels can be new or a few years old - it depends on the year, how the wine tastes, but also just on the size of the harvest. They only buy new ones when they have to and the barrels are chosen to avoid undue tastes of oak. There is no consultant, Michel and Stéphanie work according to their instinct and experience. Most of the work is done by them - they have one employee all the year round and a few more at harvest.
We then tasted two wines…in Stéphanie’s kitchen, having first fought off a gang of marauding hens and an English setter.
Stéphanie had selected two from 2016, the Haut Médoc and the top Margaux, which she had decanted specially for us early that morning.
The Haut Médoc is 53% Cab S, 40% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot, with a fresh bouquet of stone and cassis, then a very pure, crisp mouthful of cassis and just a hint of Margaux dustiness on the finish, although it’s only a HM. Very high quality which makes a mockery of the recent Cru Bourgeois classification (I don’t think they applied).
The Margaux is I believe 70% CS, around 20% Merlot and the rest Cab Franc. It’s more structured, more concentrated, less easy on the palate at this stage, but just as elegant and pure and will clearly be a very fine wine in the future. Going from one to the other just confirmed the hierarchy but also the similarity of the styles - unlike at Beychevelle or Lagrange, the HM is not out of place at all.
They are both fabulous wines, by far the best we tasted anywhere this year.
By this time, we had totally succumbed to the charm of our hostess and the way she had welcomed us into her house. After exchanging anecdotes about some of her friends and their wines, we realised it was time to go, not wanting to take up any more of her time - we had already been chatting for two hours, during which some of her family had turned up for lunch and were patiently waiting in the garden with the hens.
On our way to the car, Stéphanie remembered she had forgotten to show us the cellar - which was as well kept as the rest. I spotted a list of prices and realised they sold direct - she hadn’t bothered to mention it! Anyway, she told us not to buy anything then because of the heat (I cannot remember any château telling us not to buy their wine!).
This allowed me to clear up the confusion over which wines they produce:
Clos du Jaugueyron - Margaux. Their top wine, produced every year and offered at around 50€.
Nout - Margaux. Produced every year from a separate plot, with 45% CS and 55% Merlot. Around 35€
Petit Jaug - Margaux. A “second” wine from the Jaugueyron plot, produced once so far, in 2015, due to the abundance of the harvest. 50% CS and 50% Merlot. 25€
Perrain - Margaux. Produced once so far, in 2014, as an experiment. 75% CS and 25% CF, the wine spent 3 years in concrete tanks with no oak at all. 31€
Haut Médoc - produced every year, the proportions of CS and Merlot varying according to the year.21€
We finally said goodbye - it was like saying farewell to a good friend and we headed off to find something to eat.
It was a wonderful visit, like a breath of fresh air. Some of the biodynamic explanations went in one ear and out the other, but the point is that their hearts are in the right place. The wines they produce are extensions of themselves - pure, natural and fresh. The prices are not cheap but fair for the quality, and I will certainly be making a large order when the heat drops, because I now understand what a difficult life they have chosen for themselves, albeit a clearly very happy one, so I want to help, but mainly just because the wines are really good, the type of wine I want to drink more of.
Luckily it was our last visit because it would have been impossible to visit a more conventional château after this.
I didn’t take any photos because it would have felt indecent - I don’t expect people to take photos of my home! I found a recent article in French which has a few pics:
