Château Pedesclaux (Organic)

Overview

Just 45 years after the estate was founded, Pédesclaux saw its name carved in the stone of the 1855 classification. The status of fifth growth (‘Cinquième Cru’) it was awarded represented much more than a mere heritage – it also imposed stringent requirements for the future.

History

The château was founded in 1810 by winebroker Pierre Urbain Pédesclaux, who operated it with his wife until 1891, when the estate was sold to the Count de Gastebois. In 1930, Lucien Jugla became tenant, and eventually purchased the Château in 1950. In 2009, the estate was purchased by Jacky Lorenzetti, who also owns Chateau Lilian Ladouys in Saint-Estèphe and 50% of Château d’Issan in Margaux. Lorenzetti enlarged the vineyards with the purchase of 12 hectares of Medoc vines that are situated next to parcels owned by Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

The Terroir

The vines of Pédesclaux sit upon a geological masterpiece whose origins date back 40 million years. It is this unique terroir, the Médoc par excellence, which was recognised by the 1855 classification. The Médoc’s exceptional geology was truly revealed to all during the 17th and 18th centuries. Europe and the world discovered that this terroir had a gift for producing wines of incomparable finesse. The great chateaus began to emerge, and with them the first attempts at classification. The 1855 classification is the most famous. Commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce for the Exposition Universelle in Paris, it differentiates between 61 red wine crus, 18 of which are in the Pauillac alone. It was drawn up by traders on the basis of the sales prices recorded in their archives. 160 years later, the 1855 classification still inspires dreams, as do the terroirs recognised at the time.

Acreage: 46 Ha (44 in Pauillac and 2 in the Haut-Médoc)
Grape Varietals: 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet franc.
Planting density: 8.333-10.000 vines/Ha
Annual production: 8.000 cases
Soil: gravelly with seams of clay and limestone found at a greater depth.

Vinification

The fruit is hand-picked into small 8kg crates, with an unusual approach to harvesting introduced in the 2011 when the central vines within a plot were picked before the more peripheral vines. Continuing with the 2011 vintage, the fruit was placed in cold storage for 24 hours to reduce and even out the temperature, before it was then sorted manually, destemmed, sorted again and then vinified in nineteen thermo-regulated stainless steel cuves. The vats are filled by gravity without crushing, a process introduced with the 2009 vintage to protect the integrity of the fruit and enhance the quality of the extracted tannins. Thereafter the wine undergoes a cold maceration below 3ºC, followed by eight weeks of maceration during and after fermentation. There is punching-down to submerge the cap, and also délestage. Returning to the 2011 vintage as a typical example, the wine spends 14-16 months in oak, 60% new and 40% 1-year, with 20% of the malolactic fermentation occurring in barrel, in a climate-controlled barrel cellar renovated in 1998.

Wines and Production

The grand vin is Château Pédesclaux, and there is also a second wine until recently named Sens de Pédesclaux but rechristened Fleur de Pédesclaux in the 2007 vintage, and the total production is in the order of 8,000 cases. There is also a 2.6-hectare parcel planted with 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon which is entitled only to the Haut-Médoc appellation, and is thus bottled as such, previously under the name La Rose de Pédesclaux but in more recent vintages this is labelled, rather more informatively, as Haut-Médoc de Pédesclaux.

Château Pedesclaux Pauillac Grand Cru Classé

Fleur de Pedesclaux