Château Chasse-Spleen is a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in the

Moulis-en-Médoc Moulis-en-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography The village is situated in the Médoc on a hill, overhanging the Tiquetorte stream, which flows into the Gironde estuary. Distr ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

region of France, just north-west of

Margaux Margaux (; oc-gsc, Margaus) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Margaux-Cantenac.Cru Bourgeois The Cru Bourgeois classification lists some of the châteaux from the Médoc that were not included in the 1855 Classification of ''Crus Classés'', or Classed Growths. Notionally, ''Cru Bourgeois'' is a level below ''Cru Classé'', but still of ...

'' classification of 1932, and through later revisions until the annulment of the classification in 2007. The estate is today widely considered to be of ''cru classé'' standard. The name means "to chase away the blues" or "dispels melancholy". A

second wine Second wine or second label ( French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

is produced under the label L'Héritage de Chasse-Spleen and another titled l'Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen.

History

Long viewed as the leading '' cru'' of Moulis, the estate's

viticultural Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

history is documented back to 1560, and possibly before. Initially an estate named Grand-Poujeaux, it was owned by the ''seigneurs'' Grenier, which may have evolved into Gressier. The estate was divided in 1822 due to inheritance complications, with half the property becoming Château Gressier-Grand-Poujeaux, and the remainder being passed to the Castaing family. Further divisions in the 1860s resulted in what would become Chasse-Spleen, and the château
Maucaillou
an
Poujeaux
One account explaining the estate's name comes from a visit by

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

in 1821, when he became so enthralled by the vines that he said, ''"Quel remede pour chasser le spleen"'', or alternately attributed to the poem ''Spleen'' whose author

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

once visited the property. After the death of the last Castaing, from 1909 to 1914 Chasse-Spleen was owned by the Segnitz family, north-German wine merchants who contributed to the quality and reputation of the estate, but after the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the estate was confiscated as "enemy property", and eventually bought by auction in 1922 by the Lahary family. After maintaining the reputation of the wine for several decades, Chasse-Spleen was sold in 1976 to a consortium controlled by the Merlaut family, eventual owners of châteaux including Gruaud-Larose, Ferrière, Citran and Haut-Bages-Libéral. After changing career from teacher to winemaker, Jacques Merlaut's daughter Bernadette Villars and her husband took control of the estate and with the collaboration of Professor

Émile Peynaud Émile Peynaud (June 29, 1912 – July 18, 2004) was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology". Biogr ...

, great improvements to the facilities and quality of wine followed. She became a figure of renown before she and her husband died in a mountaineering accident in the Pyrenees in 1992. Currently, the estate is run by her daughter Céline Villars-Foubet. Her sister
Claire Vilars Lurton
took over the management of Châteaux FERRIERE, Haut-Bages Liberal and La Gurgue In February 2023, it was announced Château Chasse-Spleen had acquired the neighbouring estate,

Château Brillette Château Brillette is a winery in the Moulis-en-Médoc appellation of the Bordeaux region of France, just north-west of Margaux. Château Brillette was selected as ''Crus Bourgeois Supérieur'' in the ''Cru Bourgeois The Cru Bourgeois classifi ...

Production

The vineyard area extends 80 hectares, with the grape varieties of 73%

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

, 20%

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

and 7%

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, c ...

. On average 28,000 cases are produced annually of the ''Grand vin'', and of the two second wines L'Héritage de Chasse-Spleen and l'Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen, there is produced approximately 14,000 cases.

Gallery

Image:Château Chasse-Spleen.jpg, The Château Chasse-Spleen Image:Château Chasse Spleen 1937 detail.JPG, Detail of 1937 wine label

References

In popular culture

Downton Abbey, Season 6, Episode 6. Carson brings some Chateau Chasse-Spleen to a bed ridden Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham.

External links

Château Chasse-Spleen official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chasse-Spleen, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers