Château Clarke is a wine property of

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 ...

of based in the

Listrac-Médoc AOC Listrac-Médoc (; oc, Listrac de Medòc) is a commune in the Gironde department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Geography The commune is situated in the Médoc on the Route nationale 215, between Bordeaux and Le Verdon- ...

and classified as

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 ...

History

In the 12th century, the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks of the Vertheuil Abbey established the first grapevine. The estate would permanently bear Tobie Clarke's name in 1818, when the knight Clarke purchased the land. Baron Edmond de Rothschild became the landowner in 1973. Following the change of ownership the neglected vineyard was re-planned, and then completely recreated between 1974 and 1978, to attain a final wine-producing area of 54 hectares. Today, the vines are planted on clay–limestone hilltops, the optimum soil and environment for the Merlot grape. Following the death of Edmond de Rothschild the estate was inherited by his son, Benjamin de Rothschild and

Ariane de Rothschild Baroness Ariane de Rothschild (née Langner; 14 November 1965) is a French banker, president of the board of the Edmond de Rothschild Group since April 2019. She is the first woman to run a Rothschild-branded financial institution. She was marrie ...

. Edmond chose Château Clarke as his last resting place and is buried in the grounds of the chateau.

Soil

The vineyard is made up of

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' ...

(48%),

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 ...

(42%),

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

(8%), and Petit Verdot (2%), planted on a limestone ground calcareous eocene and calcareous clay (spacing: 6060 vines/ha). It is a traditional vine training, and the pruning is in Double Guyot. The entire surface area was drained prior to planting and again when the vines had matured between 1987 and 1989. The plantations began in 1974 and were completed in 1978.

Wine

The maturation takes 12 to 18 months, and the fining is done with egg white. The production is about of 150,000 to 250,000 bottles per year.

References

External links

Rothschild wine activitiesCompagnie vinicole Edmond de Rothschild
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers Rothschild family residences