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St Julien

The wines of St Julien are, surely, the epitome of Bordeaux, are they not? Sandwiched as it is between Pauillac to the north, with its three first growth estates, and Margaux to the south, with its obvious first growth, this small commune still makes a huge contribution to the wines of the left bank and of Bordeaux as a whole, with a distinctive and elegant style and the promise of consistency which is perhaps unrivalled by its neighbours. It is this  admirable array of qualities that is responsible for my opening thought; grand though the wines of Latour, Lafite, Mouton and Margaux may be, they will never possess that quintessential quality that is St Julien. A quality that I might describe as a precision, although as soon as I write that it is clear that this one word goes only a very short way to describing the fine quality of some of the wines of this commune.

Although the commune is not blessed with a Premier Grand Cru Classé estate as its neighbours to the north and south are, St Julien is in possession of five reliable and excellent properties at the Deuxième Cru level, something that neither Pauillac nor Margaux can boast. Although each of these properties may have its detractors, and there are some points of criticism with which I would agree, these five estates are without doubt the standard bearers for the appellation, the figureheads behind which the rest of the commune marches. And they are responsible, certainly in the case of Léoville-Las-Cases and Léoville-Barton - on the other three I would be content to debate the matter - for some of the greatest wines in all Bordeaux.

St Julien - The Appellation

A relatively small cluster of estates, St Julien is demarcated by the Chenal du Despartins and Jalle du Nord to the south, which separate the commune from an expanse of lesser land classified only as Haut-Médoc (the appellation of Margaux is further south again) and the Ruisseau de Juillac to the north, which marks the boundary with Pauillac. Here the two communes are contiguous, the vineyards of Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases lying next to those of Chateau Latour, a geographical fact that will surprise nobody who is a fan of St Julien's prime contender for first growth status, if only such a revision of the 1855 classification were ever possible. The terroir is much the same as was discussed in the guide to Margaux, although perhaps less varied. As a result of drainage, as evidenced by the channels flowing into the Gironde indicated on the map, there is a huge sweep of gravel croupes unbroken save for a small river which flows through the commune just to the south of Talbot, Langoa-Barton and Léoville-Barton.

The first of these three estates, Talbot, is one of the largest of all the Médoc, but closer to the river lie the three daughters of what was once for certain the largest estate in all Bordeaux, this being the Léoville estate. This estate came into being in 1638, when it was a little more than a gravel mound surrounded by damp marshland which regularly flooded at high tide. Vines were planted by Moytié later in the 17th Century, and the estate subsequently came to the noble De Gascq family, at which point this gigantic property was recognised as one of the greatest of all the Médoc, second only to the four accepted first growths of the era, Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Pontac (Haut-Brion). It was the inheritance of this sizeable estate by four family members, followed by its partition during and after the Revolution, that resulted in the three Léoville estates we know today. Of these three perhaps the most potent symbolism comes from Léoville-Las-Cases, with its imposing stone gateway looking onto the vines, topped by one of the Léoville lions (below). It is a magnificent sight to behold. Léoville-Barton remains eternally popular, however, firstly for the quality of the wines, secondly because during the latter 20th Century the proprietor, Anthony Barton, maintained a favourable pricing policy so that one of the most exciting wines of the region was usually released at a more affordable price than would otherwise be expected. Unfortunately these wines often very quickly found their own price level on the market, the subsequent profit going to brokers and middle-men which must have been disheartening for Barton. The third of the trio, Léoville-Poyferré, was for many years the cause of disappointment. Many wines were good, but they were not up to the standard of its two peers; in the latter 20th Century, however, under the direction of Didier Cuvelier, this situation has been reversed.

Nearby are the other two second growth properties of the appellation, Ducru-Beaucaillou and Gruaud-Larose, both of which have a history of turning out excellent wines even if they do not always receive the praise that might be expected from all critics. And further down the rungs of the 1855 ladder, there are a number of properties with very good reputations that have all, at some point or another, provided drinking pleasure for me. Of the two properties at the third growth level Langoa-Barton is an obvious choice, but I have had lots of drinking pleasure from Lagrange in the past also. The quartet of fourth growth properties all have something to offer. St-Pierre has long been, for many claret drinkers, a source of good value wine and he same is true of Talbot. For this reason I have a slight sentimental attachment with both, and some of the oldest tasting notes published on this site pertain to vertical tastings of these wines and, in addition, I have one or two vintages in the cellar waiting for a suitable moment. Branaire-Ducru, on the other hand, has always been something of an under-performer rather than an underdog, but several vintages in the opening years of the 21st Century have done much to change my opinion of the wine. Indeed, one or two have been magnificent. Beychevelle can also impress from time to time. Perhaps one has to squint a little to see the St Julien consistency that I alluded to in my introduction, but nevertheless I still hold the opinion that it exists. There is not the patchy variability of Margaux, nor the clutch of rarely sighted fifth growth chateaux of questionable quality that can be found in Pauillac to the north.

St Julien - The Classifications

As with Margaux, the chateaux of St Julien were subject to a classification in 1855, prior to the Exposition Universelle de Paris. My criticism is the same; this ranking is of historical interest and acts as a useful framework for organising tastings, writing up notes and any debate of the region, and is not a hugely valuable guide. Nevertheless, perhaps in St Julien the guide is a shade more relevant than it was in Margaux. There is greater consistency, and whether or not the chateaux all remain true to their 19th Century positions is probably more a matter of personal opinion here than it is elsewhere. Not everybody gains as much pleasure from wines such as Ducru-Beaucaillou and Gruaud-Larose as they might do from one of the Léovilles for instance, whereas others might even prefer Talbot. Nevertheless, I suspect most fans of the wines of this commune would not have to do too much shuffling before they came up with their own satisfactory listing, although I should point out that anyone tempted to do so would be better off opening a bottle; drinking the wines is a far more rewarding activity than reorganising them.

Below classed growth level there are not too many estates of interest, and this is perhaps not surprising as the aforementioned eleven classified properties account for 75% of the vines in the appellation, leaving little room other producers of quality. Here, Chateau Gloria is a stand-out property, not only for the wines but for its history. This estate was home to Henri Martin, and it began in 1942 with the purchase of 6 hectares of vines in St Julien. Over the ensuing years, assisted by his father Alfred, Henri went on to purchase more land, starting with a piece of the Beychevelle vineyard continuing with parcels from Léoville-Poyferré, Gruaud-Larose, Léoville-Barton, St-Pierre, Lagrange, Ducru-Beaucaillou and even Duhart-Milon (a Pauillac property, but they owned a small plot in St Julien), until it reached a sizeable 48 hectares. The reputation of the wine was good, perhaps not surprising considering that the vineyard originated solely from land entitled to the Grand Cru Classé label. Unfortunately for Martin, this title comes in fact with the chateau, not with the vines, so despite his fine portfolio of vineyards he had no more right to use this title than he had when he started. His only hope for Gloria was a reworking of the 1855 classification, an activity of which Martin was a strong exponent, but of course this has never happened. Martin did eventually realise his dream, however, with the acquisition of Chateau St-Pierre itself in 1982. Looking beyond Martin's creation, there are one or two other names to look out for, namely Lalande-Borie and Hortevie, but my recommendation would be that this is a commune where one should spend up to one of the reasonably priced classed growth properties if one can.

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