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Chateau Gloria

Chateau Gloria is somewhat of an anomaly in Bordeaux. It has no official place in the 1855 classification, because it did not exist at that time. It came into being as the result of one man's desire to own and run a classed growth property. That man was onetime mayor of St Julien, Henri Martin.

Born at Chateau Gruaud-Larose in 1903, it seems as though Henri Martin was born into wine. His family had lived around Bordeaux for more than three centuries, usually earning their keep in the vineyards and cellars of the region. His grandfather was the maître de chai at the estate, and his father, Alfred, a cooper who subsequently took on the same role at Chateau St-Pierre, which in the early 20th Century was run by one of the Bontemps-Dubarry daughters and her husband, Georges Kappelhoff. But when Kappelhoff died the Martin family had no means of purchasing anything of significance. The majority of the estate was sold to the Van den Bussche family, who held tenure at St Pierre until 1982; Alfred had to make do with only a small plot of vines and the barrel room from which he ran his cooperage, all that he could afford to buy. He remained a cooper until 1936 when, following a strike held by his staff, Alfred sold his business and became a grocer instead. It seemed as though the Martin family were to be divorced from wine forever.

But this was not to be. In 1942, encouraged by Jean-Charles Cazes, Henri Martin purchased 6 hectares of vines in St Julien. This was the beginning of Chateau Gloria, the name coming from the land on which the Martin family home was built. His father Alfred, who had expressed only rage when initially hearing of his son's rash acquisition, subsequently joined him in his venture, and they went on to purchase more land, starting with a piece of the Beychevelle vineyard acquired from Armand Achille-Fould. Over the years the vineyard expanded to a very respectable 48 hectares, augmented by 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). The reputation of the wine also grew, and Martin often set the scene on the Bordeaux place with the release price for his wine, which was usually announced prior to any of the classed growth estates as defined by the 1855 classification. Despite the origin of his vineyards being exclusively classed growth properties, and despite the apparent quality of what he offered, Gloria remained firmly outside the Bordeaux old guard. It should come as no surprise to learn that Martin was one of the keenest proponents of a revised classification, but it was never going to be. Despite Martin's popularity, his position of mayor of St-Julien, a role he filled for forty years, his presidency of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bordeaux and his leadership of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, an organisation he co-founded, there have long been too many interested in maintaining the status quo for such a radical shuffle to get underway. Henri Martin died in 1991, but not before he realised his ambition to own a classed growth chateau, with the purchase of St-Pierre in 1982. Today his son-in-law, Jean-Louis Triaud, continues his work at both estates.

The vineyards of Chateau Gloria remain at about 48 hectares in all, with a fairly typical left bank planting scheme; Cabernet Sauvignon (65%) dominates, and most of what remains is Merlot (25%), with 5% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine undergoes what can be a long cuvaison, with temperature-controlled fermentation, before 18 months in oak. There are about 20000 cases of the grand vin, Chateau Gloria produced per annum. The style of wine is soft and seductive, yet capable of cellaring well. A much smaller amount - about 4000 cases - of the second wine, Chateau Peymartin is produced.

The wines of Gloria receive mixed reviews. These are wines made from the fruit of St Julien vineyards, but I don't think anyone is expecting these wines to match the top estates from this commune. These are not wines capable of replacing Ducru, Las-Cases or Gruaud in any cellar. Nevertheless, they have their place. The Gloria label certainly indicates a good, well made wine that drinks well in many vintages. Tasting older examples, such as the 1982, shows that not only is the requisite quality there, but also the ability to age as well as many a classed growth wine. Nevertheless, I confess that in my opinion some more recent vintages seem worthy rather than exciting. The 1996 is a good wine that shows the character of the vintage, but the 2000 is a little disappointing when taken in a similar context. A good wine, but I could not help feeling that maybe it should have been a little more impressive than I found it to be. It was undoubtedly superior to the 1999 and 2001, but the differential was less than I would have hoped for. I will broach the 2000 again many times in the future I am sure, but in the meantime I will look forward to drinking the 1996. (4/9/00, updated 7/3/07)

Contact details:
Address: Domaines Martin, 33250 St-Julien-Beychevelle
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 56 59 08 18
Fax +33 (0) 5 56 59 16 18

Chateau Gloria -Tasting Notes

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2001

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 2001: Closed on the nose. Full, sweet, less impact than the 2000. Doesn't have the same texture. Plenty of tannin though. Showing very little on this tasting but has potential. Needs six years. 15+/20 (May 2004)

2000

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 2000: A lovely, intense, stylish, minerally St Julien fruit on the nose. Full and textured palate, with a ripe, supple tannic structure. Firm acidity. Complexity of fruit. Certainly has the edge on the 1999. Nevertheless, not as impressive as many other 2000s I have tasted. Needs five years plus. 16.5+/20 (May 2004)

1999

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1999: An elegant, dark fruit nose. Lovely texture on the palate. Ripe and supple tannins. really firms up through the midpalate. Good firm acidity. More dark fruits. This has potential. Needs four to five years. 16+/20 (May 2004)

1996

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1996: Good colour, showing a little maturity but still with plenty of depth. Lots of bottle stink at first; this needed a good hour or so in the decanter to blow off, leaving a meaty, organic, wet stone, slightly gamey profile. Good slightly plump palate, moderately low acidity. Still showing some extract and texture, and quite a little spread of tannin for structure too. Lean black fruits, a little chalky, but all round good. Short, grippy finish. This is good, but still on the way up; needs 3-4 years yet in my cellar. 17+/20 (July 2005)

1992

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1992: A good depth of colour. An attractive cedar and spice nose. On the palate, soft tannins and pleasant plummy fruit, with correct acidity. Leads into a clean finish. This wine took me by surprise, and Chateau Gloria is to be commended for producing such a reasonable wine from this poor vintage. The best 1992 claret I've had. 14/20 (September 2000)

1988

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1988: Rich fruit, toffee and coffee on the nose. More fruit on the palate, but very stalky and green. Good tannins, correct acidity, some more toffee oak, leading onto a tannic endpalate and finish. A definite family resemblance to the 1982 here. 16/20 (September 2000)

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1988: Beautiful red-purple hue. Nose of black fruit and spice. On the palate there is cream, black pepper and more spice. Soft tannins and soft, well integrated vanilla oak. Finishes well, but little length. From a Bordeaux 1988 blind horizontal tasting. 16/20 (May 2000)

1982

Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 1982: A purple-mahogany appearance. An obvious sweet toffee and caramel nose. Sweet, black fruit on the palate, with some attractive spice. Good tannins through to the finish. This wine sticks out like a sore thumb - it has to the 1982. 16.5/20 (September 2000)