Requirement. Experience. Excellency. These are the three words that come to mind to perfectly introduce Château Croix de Labrie, one of the newcomers promoted in the classification of Saint-Emilion wines in 2022.
On a beautiful morning in February, the cold took hold of the vineyard. Meet at Château Croix de Labrie for a tour of the property in the company of Pierre Courdurié, the proud owner of this estate, modest in size, but immense in the refined and unique character of its wines. A meeting that will mark me forever so much by its sympathy, its conviviality, and above all its experience and its mastery of the vineyard.
One of the pioneers of garage wines
Many associate the history of garage wines with Château Valandraud, ignoring that in 1991 Château Croix de Labrie also participated in the development of these newcomers to the wine world. Long seen as UFOs in this universe, today they are among the greatest of the appellation.
But what is a garage wine? This term was born in the Bordeaux vineyards. Originally, they were owners of plots of vines on small surfaces, producing small quantities of bottles. These wines are aged in new oak barrels in the owners' garage. These wines are very acclaimed by critics, and are among the top marks awarded year after year. Moreover, small quantities and high quality necessarily lead to fairly high prices.
Historically, in 1991, Château Croix de Labrie operated 2.5 hectares of vines. It was not until 2013, after the takeover by Axelle and Pierre Courdurié, that the estate will develop. Today, the château has 5.16 hectares of vines. Far from the immense properties of the Médoc with their average 94 hectares, the estate is on a human scale. And for good reason, Axelle and Pierre work alone in their vines and are only periodically reinforced by a few workers. After having matured their desire to acquire a domain for a long time, it was when they learned that Château Croix de Labrie was for sale that Axelle and Pierre jumped at the chance. This castle is the perfect embodiment of what they were looking for. A small estate in an appellation on a human scale, what could be better than the Bordeaux right bank with Saint-Emilion and Pomerol?
The vine above all
At this time of year (February), the vine is dormant, it is resting
The grape varieties of the castle are classic from the right bank, that is to say Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
What is fascinating here is the diversity of the soils. Moreover, it perfectly illustrates the complexity of these wines.
Les parcelles sont donc morcelées aux quatre coins du vignoble. Une première se situe sur le terroir de Badon, au pied de la côte de Pavie. Le sol y est composé de sable calcaire et d’argile, avec un sous-sol argilo-calcaire et crasses de fer. Une seconde parcelle est implantée sur Le Cateau, où le sol est composé de graves et d’argile bleue. Enfin, plusieurs parcelles sont éparpillées sur le plateau de Saint-Christophe des Bardes, sur 3 lieux-dits différents : Rocheyron, Peymouton et Eycheres. Ici, les sols y sont argilo-calcaire à astérie.
This heterogeneity will give an incredible aromatic palette to the wines.
The work in the vineyard is mainly carried out by Axelle, she continually brings new techniques, or rather, she brings up to date techniques used before but totally neglected in favor of yield, in particular by the fact that they are very time-consuming. One of the most important tasks in his eyes is pruning. This is why she does not hesitate to always review her way of doing things. For her, it is not a question of working in view of the coming vintage, but rather in anticipation of the following 2 to 3 vintages.
The work in the vineyard is also done organically and biodynamically. Using these cultivation methods is an environmentally friendly choice. And clearly, with changing climatic conditions and warming year after year, this choice pays off. In the summer of 2022, when France was experiencing a heat wave of rare intensity, on some plots, the temperature at the foot of the vine plans was 10 degrees lower than that recorded in the vineyard. The cause ? A perfectly controlled weed which allowed to preserve a certain freshness, and thus to avoid water stress for the vine.
Moreover, still in this same environmental approach, the estate owns a wood near the castle. This is where an entire ecosystem lives in harmony, ranging from hives for bees to shelters for bats. This is also where the infusions, compost and other preparations that will be used to take care of the vines throughout the year are made. As Pierre says so well, it is difficult today to make bad wine with all the different techniques that exist in the cellar. The difference is made in the vineyard, starting with the composition of the soil or rather called the terroir, with the size, the treatments given, but also and above all the quality of the bunches that are harvested, in order to extract grapes from them. perfect maturity.
The climate at the heart of concerns
The vintages pass but are not alike, except for the climatic conditions which are more and more demanding over time. Spring comes earlier and earlier (the buds come out towards the end of March or even the beginning of April), the late frosts always occur at the same time (holy ice) and are at the same time more and more destructive.
To fight against this scourge which can go so far as to destroy part of the harvest of a vintage or even all of it, several techniques are used to fight as cleanly and respectfully as possible for the environment. The estate uses an agrofrost, an antifreeze tower and candles, however these are very restrictive. Indeed, in addition to the cost which is not negligible (count 14€/candle) they must be lit above 0°c therefore +1°c, and the coverage is so low that it is necessary to put 300 to cover 1 hectare of vines with a duration of use of approximately 8 hours. Enough to give a hard time to winegrowers who would do without it.
In Saint-Emilion, for 2 years, studies have been carried out by researchers in order to understand how to fight against frost and climatic effects. During freezing nights, they fly over the appellation in a helicopter and take temperature readings with different equipment, and in particular thermal cameras, in order to be able to put in place techniques to better fight against these climatic hazards which will tend to s 'intensify.
In 2022 there have been "only" 4 cold nights, however on the set the temperature has dropped to -10°C at its lowest. If the intensity of this icy episode had been as long as the frost period of 2021, the entire vineyard would lose its harvest. So you understand that it is urgent to act. This is why a reasoned agriculture focused on the environment makes it possible to anticipate ever more difficult climatic hazards.
A cellar on a human scale
It is on entering the cellar that you understand even more what a human-sized estate means. It is here, in the shelter, that these wines, or rather these elixirs, are produced.
Before arriving at the cellar, there is the tedious stage of the harvest. Here, they are manual and piecemeal. Axelle and Pierre pass over each plot, in each row, and bite into different grapes in order to get a first idea of maturity. Then, they bring some back to the laboratory to extract the different chemical parameters and it is at this moment that the most ideal moment when the plots are going to be harvested is decided. Indeed, what they are looking for is freshness and the right maturity of the grapes.
The harvest begins at dawn and ends at the end of the morning, in joy and good humor. What could be better than reaping the rewards of dedicated and hard work every day?
The first sorting is done in the vineyard, and 4 other sortings will follow before arriving in the vats. 100% of the harvest is de-stemmed (remove all plant matter on the bunch). Being at perfect maturity, the grapes have enough tannins and color.
Each thermo-regulated stainless steel tank contains a parcel. Pigeage is done by Pierre, by hand, in order to have a more flexible extraction of tannins. However, he does not refrain from a few small pumping overs in order to moisten the cap in order to facilitate manual work.
They also make integral vinifications in 500l barrels. That is to say that the grapes will be sung there as soon as they arrive at the cellar and this until the assembly before bottling. The objective is to extract the perfect ratio between the juice and the marc. The wines will be more fruity and less tannic.
The aging is done over a period of 18 months, in 225l oak barrels, 500l barrels and 12 hectoliter tuns. For 2022, for example, 70% of the aging is done in 225l barrels, of which 70 to 80% are made of new wood, and 30 to 20% have already had a vintage. The rest is raised in the other containers. As it matures, each barrel is tasted blind.
The final assembly is done by Axelle, Pierre, and the consultant oenologist Hubert de Bouärd.
Suite à la visite s’en est suivi une dégustation des millésimes 2019 et 2020 que vous pouvez retrouver dans la Tasting Zone.
Je tiens à remercier tout particulièrement Pierre pour cette fascinante visite. J’ai parfaitement pu m’imprégner de l’atmosphère de quiétude, d’exigence et de perfection qui règne au Château Croix de Labrie. Des propriétaires passionnés et dévoués récompensés par la promotion de leur domaine au sein du dernier classement des vins de Saint-Emilion en 2022, et ce n’est qu’un début. Un château qui ne manquera pas de faire parler de lui dans les années à venir.